United States President Donald Trump said, “there will be hell to pay” if Hamas does not disarm as promised during a press conference held with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Monday.
The press conference took place shortly after the two leaders met for lunch and a private meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-lago estate, where they discussed multiple topics, including the US-brokered Israel-Gaza peace deal and the accompanying fragile ceasefire.
When asked if Trump was concerned about Israel’s progress towards the implementation of the deal’s second phase, he said he is “not concerned about anything Israel is doing.”
“Israel has lived up to the plan 100%,” Trump stated, adding that he is actually concerned about what other involved parties “are doing or maybe are not doing.”
Hamas will have 'hell to pay' if they refuse disarmament
Phase two of the Gaza peace plan is set to include Israel’s full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as well as Hamas demilitarization and disarmament.
Trump said he and Netanyahu had talked about Hamas during their meeting and that the terrorist organization would be given “a fairly short period of time” to comply with disarmament.
“If they don’t disarm, which they’ve agreed to do, there’ll be hell to pay for them,” Trump said, adding that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would be responsible for US participation in disarmament talks.
Reporters present at the conference also asked if Israel would be willing to withdraw their troops prior to Hamas disarmament. Trump stated that it is a “separate subject” to be discussed at a later time.
One reporter asked Trump about a recent poll that reportedly showed that over half of Gazans would leave the strip if given the opportunity.
Trump stated that he was familiar with the poll and that he “has always said” that they would leave if given the “great opportunity” to do so. Trump said it remains to be seen if that opportunity presents itself, adding that in the meantime, the US and Israel are “helping the people of Gaza a lot.”
Additionally, Trump was asked why other nations have not stepped forward to accept Gaza refugees. He was unwilling to discuss the topic, citing a reluctance to start “controversy” on the matter.