WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned Hamas to disarm within a “very short period of time, ” cautioned Iran against rebuilding military capabilities, and reaffirmed an exceptionally close US–Israel partnership.
“We talked about Hamas and we talked about disarmament and they're going to be given a very short period of time to disarm, ” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
He said Hamas had already committed to doing so.
“If they don't disarm, as they agreed to do… then they'll be held to pay for them, ” Trump said. “They have to disarm within a fairly short period of time.”
Trump said the enforcement would not fall solely on Israel.
“If they say they're not going to disarm, those same countries will wipe out Hamas, ” he said. “They don't even need Israel.”
He said 59 countries were aligned behind the current peace framework.