Phase Two or Total Destruction
"We Will Disarm Them, Perhaps Violently": Trump Gives Hamas an Ultimatum
US President Trump issues stark warning to Hamas, demanding immediate disarmament and full return of hostage remains, threatening forceful action if terms aren't met.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stark ultimatum to Hamas on Tuesday, insisting the terror group must uphold a commitment to disarm or face the consequences, which he warned could be "violent."
The President's comments came as he publicly pressured Hamas to fulfill the terms of the recently brokered ceasefire by returning the remains of all deceased Israeli hostages, a condition he stressed had not yet been met.
Disarmament Mandate
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump claimed his administration had secured an agreement from the terror group to lay down arms.
"I spoke to Hamas, and I said, ‘You’re going to disarm, right?’ ‘Yes, sir. We’re going to disarm.’ That’s what they told me. They will disarm or we will disarm them," Trump stated.
He later clarified that this communication was routed through his "people," a reference to U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who were involved in negotiations with Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, in Sharm el-Sheikh last week.
When pressed on how he could guarantee Hamas would follow through, Trump was unequivocal: “We have told them we want them to disarm, and they will disarm. And if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently, but they will disarm.”
The President refused to detail his specific plan for enforcement, adding,
“I don’t have to explain that to you… They know I’m not playing games,” though he set a timeline of a “reasonable period of time.”
The Hostage Body Snag
Trump's demand for disarmament was inextricably linked to Hamas’s perceived failure to fully comply with the hostage return aspect of the ceasefire deal.
Although the terror group released the remaining 20 living hostages on Monday as required, they have fallen short on the return of the dead. Hamas only handed over four bodies on Monday and another four on Tuesday, while the deal covers the remains of all deceased hostages.
He revealed that Hamas had misled mediators on the number of bodies they held.
“We were told they had 26, 24 dead hostages… and it seems as though they don’t have that because we’re talking about a much lesser number,” he said.
While the deal allows for more time to locate bodies via a joint task force, the U.S. President views the incomplete return as a violation of the spirit of the agreement.
Phase Two and 'Gangs'
Amid the tensions, Trump declared "Phase two begins right NOW!!!" in his post, referring to the post-war governance and reconstruction elements of his 20-point peace plan. Hamas has not agreed to this second phase, which mandates its disarming, and has stated it wishes to hold future negotiations.
Separately, when asked about reports of Hamas carrying out public executions of alleged "collaborators" in Gaza since the ceasefire began, Trump appeared to downplay the severity, classifying the victims as members of "very bad gangs."
“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad… and they killed a number of gang members,” Trump said. “That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you. That’s okay. It’s a couple of very bad gangs.” Hamas sources confirmed the authenticity of a video showing fighters dragging men into a street and shooting them.