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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas must surrender its weapons or face severe consequences, as the next stage of the Gaza peace deal brokered by U.S. President Trump hinges on the group's demilitarization.
"We agreed to give peace a chance," Netanyahu said on Tuesday in Tel Aviv during an interview with CBS News.
"First, Hamas has to give up its arms. And second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There's no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That’s demilitarization," he added.
Netanyahu’s comments came a day after Trump visited Tel Aviv to mark the first phase of his 20-point Gaza peace plan, declaring "the war is over."
The agreement secured the release of all 20 remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Trump warned Tuesday that if Hamas refuses to disarm, "we will disarm them. And it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently. But they will disarm."
Netanyahu acknowledged Trump’s words, paraphrasing them as "all hell breaks loose." He added, "Well, I hope it doesn’t. I hope we can do this peacefully. We’re certainly ready to do so."
Hamas returned the bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages on Monday, followed by four more on Tuesday. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged that the peace process be suspended "until every deceased individual is returned."
Trump said Monday that not all the bodies have been found.
The U.S.-brokered deal calls for Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza and the immediate delivery of full humanitarian aid to the enclave, where famine conditions persist.
The agreement aims to end the two-year war and foster long-term peace, though issues such as Gaza's governance, Palestinian statehood, and Hamas' disarmament remain unresolved.
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