US President Donald Trump issued a new threat against Hamas on 14 October, affirming that they will either surrender their weapons or be disarmed by force.
“They said they were gonna disarm,” the president claimed, despite Hamas and other resistance factions repeatedly rejecting Israeli terms for the surrender of arms. “They know I’m not playing games.”
The president praised the “monumental” achievement of returning the captives, adding that this was needed “above all else.”
He also expressed support for Hamas’s crackdown on outlaw militias in Gaza. “They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad … That didn’t bother me,” he said.
“But they will disarm, you understand me?” Trump told a reporter. “Everyone’s always saying they won’t disarm … They will disarm. And I spoke to Hamas, and I told them you’re gonna disarm. Yes sir, we’re gonna disarm, that’s what they told me,” Trump claimed.
“And if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them – and it’ll happen quickly and, perhaps, violently, but they WILL disarm,” he threatened.
Israel has also threatened to disarm Hamas through military force if the resistance group refuses to surrender. “All hell breaks loose” if Hamas does not disarm, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
The Deputy Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, Mohammad al-Hindi, rejected Trump’s comments and said “the resistance factions did not agree to disarmament,” adding that “we do not accept the threat of disarming them by force.”
Hamas has also repeatedly stressed that it will not surrender its weapons until a Palestinian state is formed.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that Britain could play a leading role in helping to disarm Hamas in Gaza by drawing on its experience persuading militant groups in Northern Ireland to surrender their weapons.
According to European diplomats cited by Reuters, the Northern Ireland peace process is being discussed as a potential model for Gaza’s future. They noted that no detailed plan has yet been drawn up.
“Of course, this is going to be difficult, but it’s vital. It was difficult in Northern Ireland in relation to the IRA (Irish Republican Army), but it was vital,” Starmer said.
Hellbound and Down 