President Donald Trump said “there has to be a disarming of Hamas” as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a crucial meeting as the U.S. looks to shore up the ceasefire in Gaza and move to phase two of the plan. Trump expressed an eagerness to move “very quickly, as quickly as we […]
President Donald Trump said “there has to be a disarming of Hamas” as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a crucial meeting as the U.S. looks to shore up the ceasefire in Gaza and move to phase two of the plan.
Trump expressed an eagerness to move “very quickly, as quickly as we can” to the next part of the multi-stage ceasefire on Monday as he welcomed Netanyahu for talks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
There are numerous obstacles to doing so, however, with the disarmament of Hamas a key sticking point.
Hamas has said it is ready to discuss “freezing or storing” its arsenal of weapons but insists it has a right to armed resistance as long as Israel occupies Palestinian territory. One U.S. official said a potential plan might be to offer cash incentives in exchange for weapons, echoing a “buyback” program Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has previously floated.
The troubled opening months of the multi-staged ceasefire have stoked fears that regional fighting could resume in the new year. Arab and Muslim partners have voiced concerns about continuing Israeli military strikes in the war-shattered and now-divided Palestinian enclave, as well as in Lebanon and Syria.
Trump has been highly supportive of Israel even as it faced censure elsewhere over the carnage in Gaza. But the president has shown impatience with questions of when and how his Gaza plan can move to the reconstruction and reconciliation stages, known as Phase 2.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also met with Netanyahu on Monday. Earlier this month, Rubio told reporters the next step in the peace process should be naming a “Board of Peace” — identifying a group of technocrats who would run Gaza — and a move that would allow for a cohort of foreign troops to create an International Stabilization Force to provide security.
