U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Monday that Hamas would face dire consequences “if they don’t give up their weapons quickly as part of the Gaza deal,” which he claimed “Israel is committed to.”
In remarks made during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, Trump stated, “If they don’t give up their weapons as agreed, there will be a heavy price to pay,” adding, “They have to give up their weapons in a short period of time.”
Trump noted that “there is not 100% agreement on the issue of settler violence in the West Bank,” while at the same time affirming his explicit support for Netanyahu, who still shows some hesitation and stubbornness in moving to the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire plan.
He added, “I’m not worried about anything Israel is doing, but rather what others are doing or perhaps not doing, but I’m not worried… They have committed to the plan.”
Regarding Iran, Trump threatened, “We will eliminate any threat if Iran rebuilds its nuclear capabilities,” adding that “Iran may rebuild its nuclear program in sites other than those bombed by America,” but he indicated in return that he is “open to dialogue with Iran” and that he “would support that.”
Regarding “Israel” and Syria, Trump said, “We have an understanding regarding Syria,” explaining that he will make things “go well between Israel and the Syrian president,” while Netanyahu commented, “It is in our interest to have secure borders with Syria.”
On the Lebanese issue, Trump believes that “Hezbollah is behaving badly,” and added, “We will see what Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah will yield.”
He also touched on the normalization track in the region, saying, “Saudi Arabia will sign the Abraham Accords at some point,” and also confirmed that “there will be no problem between Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”
Trump had received Netanyahu earlier that day in Florida to hold talks focusing on the next phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, in addition to discussing a number of regional issues, including Iran and Hezbollah.
In a related context, Netanyahu mentioned this month that Trump had invited him to hold these talks, at a time when Washington is seeking to deploy international security forces in the Gaza Strip, amid continued Israeli violations and attacks despite the signing of the ceasefire agreement last October.
