The Trump administration requested that Israel grant Hamas 60 days to disarm before the IDF resumes full-scale hostilities with the terrorist group, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Monday.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem hosted by the Besheva media group, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs revealed that the US had asked the Netanyahu government to hold off on resuming the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip for at least two months to give Hamas an opportunity to disarm.
“We are respecting that,” Fuchs said, adding that if Hamas fails to use the 60-day grace period to hand over its weapons, the fighting in Gaza will resume.
Fuchs added that Hamas must totally disarm within those two months allotted to it, and that a partial disarmament, limited only to heavy weapons such as rockets, anti-tank missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades would not suffice.
“Within 60 days Hamas must be totally disarmed. Everything,” said Fuchs. “If that doesn’t happen, IDF soldiers will need to ensure that it does happen.”
However, Fuchs did not know when the 60-day countdown would begin.
When pressed about the timing of the deadline, Fuchs said that it would be “reasonable” to assume that by June – a date floated for this year’s Knesset election – Hamas will either have surrendered its weapons or a new campaign in Gaza will be well underway.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu told American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that Hamas must hand over its entire arsenal, rejecting a partial disarmament limited to heavy weapons.
The Trump administration and the Board of Peace are reportedly mulling an incremental disarmament, beginning with the demolition of tunnel networks and the decommissioning of Hamas’ heavy weaponry, with the terror group retaining its small arms for an interim period, after which firearms would also be turned over.
