He said it twice, to leave no room for doubt. on Tuesday, in the Israeli parliament, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that, following the recovery of the body of the last hostage in Gaza, the next phase of the ceasefire is not the reconstruction of the devastated Strip, but the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza.
President Donald Trump has issued a new demand, accompanied by threatening language, that Hamas disarm, as the second phase of the United States-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel gets underway. Trump pledged on social media late on Thursday to achieve a comprehensive demilitarisation Hamas, threatening the Palestinian group if it fails to do so, and demanded the return the remains of the last Israeli captive.
Asked if he and Netanyahu had discussed Israel pulling back troops before Hamas fully disarmed, Trump told reporters: If they don't disarm as they agreed to do they agreed to it then there'll be hell to pay for them and we don't want that, we're not looking for that. But they have to disarm within a fairly short period of time. He described the question of Israel withdrawing its forces as a separate subject, adding only: We'll talk about that.
Behind the scenes: White House envoy Steve Witkoff is hosting the meeting. Mossad spy chief David Barnea will represent Israel and a senior Qatari official will also join, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Flashback: On Sep. 9, Israeli jets conducted an unprecedented strike against Hamas leaders in Doha. Hamas' top leaders survived, but a Qatari security guard was killed.
US President Donald Trump has thanked Qatar for its efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, as the United States presses ahead with negotiations on the next phase of Trump's 20-point Gaza plan. Trump welcomed Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on board Air Force One on Saturday as the US president's plane stopped to refuel in the Gulf country on its way to a summit in Malaysia.
Fox News's Kayleigh McEnany went off on Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Thursday for refusing to directly say Hamas should disarm in an interview on the network the day prior. McEnany addressed Mamdani's interview on Outnumbered, where she declared the self-described Democratic socialist should be disqualified from polite society for his answer on whether Hamas should disarm amid a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Egypt and Qatar are working to convince Hamas to accept Donald Trump's ultimatum to end the war in Gaza, Egypt's foreign minister has said, as Trump gave a Sunday deadline to reply. Badr Abdelatty said the time had come for Hamas to disarm, and that Israel should be given no excuse to continue its offensive in Gaza, where it killed another 28 Palestinians on Friday.
Arab and Muslim leaders are to meet Donald Trump in New York to discuss their plan for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force in Gaza after France joined the UK, Canada and Australia in recognising Palestine as a state. Israel has warned that it might respond to the recognition of Palestine by annexing the West Bank, citing claims from Hamas that recognition by allies of Israel was a victory for the terror group.
It is almost certain that the UK, along with France, Canada, Belgium and Malta, will recognise the state of Palestine at a UN conference on 22 September to be held on the sidelines of the general assembly, in the week when world leaders deliver major speeches. Britain had suggested it might not recognise Palestine if Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire, but the Israeli government has adamantly rejected a ceasefire and announced an intention to capture Gaza City.
