U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Palestinian resistance group Hamas will be forced to lay down its arms — if not voluntarily, then by force.
He said he had spoken with representatives of Hamas, and they had assured him that they would lay down their arms.
"And if they don't disarm, we will disarm them, and it'll happen quickly and perhaps violently, but they will disarm," he said at a meeting with Argentinian President Javier Milei. He did not specify exactly who he meant by "we."
A Palestinian security source in Gaza told AFP that Hamas's security body, a recently established unit whose name translates as "Deterrence Force," was conducting "ongoing field operations to ensure security and stability."
"Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens," he said.
Trump did not want to comment precisely on a possible deadline. However, he said the disarmament should take place "pretty, pretty quickly" within "a reasonable period of time."
On Monday, Trump told the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, that a multitude of states in the Middle East wanted to see Hamas disarmed.
Shortly before, he told accompanying journalists during his flight to Israel that his administration had granted Hamas temporary permission to arm as it was trying to restore order after months of war.
"They do want to stop the problems and they've been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time," Trump said.
Israel insists Hamas can have no role in a future Gaza government, must hand back the remains of 24 more deceased hostages and eventually disarm.
Trump's Gaza plan says that Hamas members who agree to "decommission their weapons" will be given amnesty.
The 20-point document, endorsed Monday by world powers at a Trump-chaired summit in Egypt, says Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas have no leadership role.
