Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that President Donald Trump has left 'no flexibility' on the critical issue of Hamas disarmament, framing it as an absolute prerequisite for advancing the U.S. leader's proposed Middle East peace initiative.
A Fundamental Condition for Peace
Speaking to journalists ahead of a weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu emphasized that Trump has been 'unequivocal' in both private discussions and public statements. The Israeli leader stated that the disarmament of the Palestinian militant group is a 'necessary and fundamental condition' for implementing Trump's outlined 20-point plan for the region.
'He made no concessions on this and showed no flexibility on this matter,' Netanyahu asserted, underscoring the firm U.S. position. This stance was reportedly reinforced during Netanyahu's recent visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, which the Prime Minister said helped deepen the bilateral and personal relationship between the two allies.
The Stakes and the Timetable
During that Florida visit, Trump himself warned that Hamas would be given only a 'very short period of time' to lay down its weapons or face severe consequences, ominously adding 'there will be hell to pay for them.' While expressing a desire to move to a second phase of the plan quickly, the President did not provide a concrete timeline for this disarmament process.
Netanyahu, in a separate interview with Fox News, identified Hamas's refusal to relinquish its arsenal as the 'central obstacle' to stabilizing the Gaza Strip. He revealed that intelligence estimates suggest Hamas still possesses approximately 20,000 operatives and 60,000 rifles, along with hundreds of kilometers of underground terror tunnels.
'That’s what disarmament means — got to take all these rifles, take them away from them, and break up those terror tunnels,' the Prime Minister explained. He expressed hope for a different future for Gaza in the coming year, 'if we disarm Hamas, whether with an international force or by any other means.' He added a stark warning: 'If it can be done the easy way, fine. And if not, it’ll be done another way.'
Hamas's Defiant Stance and Ongoing Tensions
The demand for disarmament stands in direct opposition to Hamas's publicly stated position. In early December, senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, speaking at an anti-Israel summit in Turkey, reiterated calls for the Jewish state's destruction and rejected U.S. and U.N. demands to demilitarize. 'The resistance and its weapons are the honour and pride of the ummah (the Islamic nation),' Mashaal declared. 'A thousand statements are not worth a single projectile of iron.'
The tense military reality on the ground was highlighted just one day before Netanyahu's comments. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported carrying out a 'precise strike' on a Hamas tunnel shaft in northern Gaza that contained a rocket launcher loaded and aimed at the Israeli city of Sderot. The military condemned the action as a blatant violation of ceasefire understandings.
Despite the serious geopolitical discussions, Netanyahu shared a lighter personal moment from his New Year's visit with Trump, recounting how the President asked if he liked fireworks. 'I told him: "It’s preferable to other things that explode in the sky, but with that too we have learned to deal very well." Of course, he understood,' Netanyahu said, reflecting on the shared context of security threats.
