President Trump said the release of the 20 living hostages was “monumental” but that fewer dead hostages may be released than previously thought.
President Trump says Hamas will disarm or ‘we will disarm’
President Donald Trump said Hamas must voluntarily disarm or face swift and violent consequences.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, one day after a trip to the Middle East celebrating a cease-fire agreement, that Hamas would disarm within a “reasonable period of time” or the United States would do so “possibly violently.”
President Trump said, “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and probably violently.” “But they will disarm.”
Trump was asked how he would disarm Hamas if he were to do so. President Trump responded, “I don’t need to explain that.” “They know I’m not playing games.”
President Trump’s comments came less than a day after he returned from a trip to Israel and Egypt, where he declared an end to the war between Israel and Hamas. But after freeing 20 living hostages, relatives of the dead hostages are questioning the release of their bodies.
“We did something monumental,” President Trump said. “We’ve got our hostages back.”
But other tasks in his 20-point peace plan still need to be accomplished, such as getting Hamas to lay down its arms.
President Trump said the release of the dead hostages was clouded by previous talk of 24 or 26, but that number now appears to be decreasing. The bodies of the four hostages were released on October 13th.
“They’re talking about a much lower number, so it’s as if they don’t have it,” President Trump said. “It’s a very difficult subject. We want them back.”
President Trump remained vague about the deadline for disarming Hamas.
“It’s a reasonable period of time,” President Trump said.
