JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that the Hamas militant group must surrender all its weapons and tunnel infrastructure so that the US-backed peace plan in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, can run smoothly.
In an interview with Fox News about what is complicating the transition to the second phase of the plan, Netanyahu replied, "One word: disarmament," adding "Hamas is committed to disarming" but "refuses to do so," as quoted by The Times of Israel (31/12).
Although US officials claimed the Palestinian militant group agreed to disarm shortly before the first phase of the deal was signed on October 9, Hamas has repeatedly denied this.
Netanyahu said Hamas "still has about 20,000 people with Kalashnikov rifles, which they use periodically to execute anyone who does not want the continuation of their tyranny."
"And they have a total of 60,000 AK rifles. That's what disarmament means - we have to take all these rifles, take them from them, and destroy the terror tunnels they have, which are still hundreds of kilometers of terror tunnels. Hamas refuses to do it," said Netanyahu.
Asked if he believed the second phase of the Gaza plan could be achieved even if Hamas did not want to disarm, Netanyahu said, "I think we have to give it a chance."
"There are efforts to bring in international forces," he continued, referring to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) that will be deployed in Gaza as part of the US plan.
"So far, it has not materialized, but we will give it a chance. Because if it can be done ... in an easy way, it's good. And if not, it will be done in another way," he said.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump warned on Monday that Hamas would face "severe consequences" if it did not immediately disarm as part of a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, which he said Israel had complied with.
"If they do not disarm as they have agreed, there will be serious consequences for them," President Trump said at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, launching Al Arabiya from AFP.
"They have to disarm in a fairly short period of time," President Trump said.
On the same day earlier, the military wing of the militant group Hamas reiterated that it would not surrender its weapons, a key issue expected to be discussed in talks between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as long as there are still Israeli soldiers in Palestinian territory.
"Our people are defending themselves and will not surrender their weapons as long as the occupation is still ongoing," a new spokesman for the Izzuddin Al-Qassam Brigades, which has adopted the name of its late predecessor Abu Obeida, said in a video statement.
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