JERUSALEM, Israel – President Trump insists the Gaza ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is still holding, despite a Hamas attack this weekend. However, some belleive the plan could be in danger of falling apart.
The Israel Defense Forces announced they had resumed the ceasefire on Sunday evening after a Hamas attack killed two IDF soldiers and wounded three more in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel retaliated with dozens of strikes against Hamas terror targets.
The president said on Fox News Sunday that there isn't a timeline to disarm Hamas.
"Not a timeline, not a hard line, but we're going to see how it all works out," Trump stated. "They've lived there for a long time. They're very violent. You understand, you've been covering it for a very long time, but we're gonna find out. "So it's not a hot timeline, but it's a line in my own mind. And at a certain point, if they don't do what they're supposed to do, then we'll have to do it for them."
Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner are in Israel seeking to preserve the deal.
Since the ceasefire agreement was implemented, Hamas leaders have openly stated they will not disarm and that they want to be part of post-war Gaza.
The Trump plan directs Hamas to disarm and forbids the terror group from ruling any part of the Gaza Strip.
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After the ceasefire began, Hamas enforced its rule on the streets by executing its rivals, extorting local businessmen, and openly displaying its arms.
Hillel Neuer, director of U.N. Watch, tells CBN News the world has been silent on Hamas's vigilante justice.
“I put up a video a few days ago on social media, and it said, 'Here's the reaction of the Human Rights Council to the massacre by Hamas and others accused of killing possibly over 50 Palestinians who were opposing Hamas. And like a mafia regime, they want to massacre any of their critics or opponents.' And the response of the world is crickets – (on the) video was the sound of crickets.”
Neuer added that Israel's critics are silent, as well. "Groups like Amnesty International, many leading activists like Greta Thunberg, the climate Palestine activist who claimed to care about Gaza, who claimed to care about Palestinians, have been completely silent as Hamas is murdering Palestinians," he said.
If Hamas keeps its weapons, it may jeopardize the next phase of the ceasefire plan.
The Sunni nations of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are expected to be part of an Arab force to monitor the ceasefire, although they reportedly won't participate if Hamas keeps its weapons.
Many believe that unless Hamas is disarmed, it will sabotage any force sent to restore order in Gaza, and unless they're eliminated, there would be no chance for rehabilitation or reconstruction.
The Saudis and the U.A.E. noticeably did not attend the recent peace summit in Egypt, and they reminded world leaders they warned about "countries that destabilize the region," a veiled reference to Qatar, which has funded Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood for decades.
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