WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump acknowledged the Hamas militant group would have to lay down its weapons for his Gaza peace plan to advance to the next phase − but said as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave may be able to begin sooner.
The talks were meant to jumpstart progress on the second phase of the war-ending deal his administration secured three months ago, as movement on the agreement that dictates Hamas' disarmament stalled.
"There has to be a disarmament," Trump told reporters on Dec. 29 from his Palm Beach, Florida, estate. "There has to be a disarming of Hamas, otherwise very quickly," Trump said of the phase two implementation.
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect in October, with the first phase including a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, an increase in humanitarian aid and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
All of the living Israeli hostages have been returned, along with the remains of all but one, Ran Gvili, who's believed to be deceased. Netanyahu met with Gvili's parents in Florida ahead of his meeting with Trump.
