TESTING TRUMP: Hamas Won’t Commit To Disarmament, Defends Public Executions

A senior Hamas official who spoke to Reuters on Friday said that the terror group could not commit to disarming and defended the public executions in Gaza earlier this week.

Reuters sat down with senior Hamas member Mohammed Nazzal in Doha, Qatar, where senior Hamas leaders have long enjoyed safe haven. Nazzal said that the executions that took place on Monday were part of “exceptional measures” taken during war. At least seven men were shot in the back of the head in front of a crowd in Gaza after Hamas accused them of conspiring with Israel. Nazzal said the executed men were “criminals guilty of killing.”

Nazzal added that Hamas would like to see a ceasefire last between three and five years, so that Gaza can be rebuilt, Reuters reported. He added that after the rebuilding, Palestinians should be given “horizons and hope” for statehood.

Asked about Nazzal’s comments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told Reuters, “Hamas is supposed to release all hostages in stage 1. It has not. Hamas knows where the bodies of our hostages are. Hamas are to be disarmed under this agreement. No ifs, no buts. They have not. Hamas need to adhere to the 20-point plan. They are running out of time.”

The Hamas official’s comments come hours after President Donald Trump warned, “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.” The president later clarified that he did not intend to use U.S. troops to take out the terrorists.

“I didn’t say who will go in, but somebody will go in. It’s not going to be us. We won’t have to,” he said. “There are people very close, very nearby that will go in. They’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.”

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The first phase of Trump’s deal between Israel and Hamas, which was agreed upon earlier this week, required Hamas to hand over the remaining living and deceased hostages, while Israel would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds of terrorists. The remaining living hostages have been released, but Hamas has so far failed to locate and hand over the bodies of all 28 deceased hostages that were still being held by the terrorists.

It appears that Hamas has no desire to see the next phase of the peace plan come to fruition, which would require the terrorists to lay down their weapons and hand over control of Gaza.

Trump said earlier this week that he was confident Hamas would disarm, threatening that if the terror group did not agree to lay down its weapons voluntarily, it would be disarmed by force.

“They’re going to disarm because they said they were going to disarm,” Trump said. “And if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them.”

“They know I’m not playing games,” the president added.