Netanyahu has said that Hamas must disarm the ‘easy way or the hard way’ following the Gaza ceasefire deal
During an interview with Sky News on 10 October, senior Hamas official Dr. Basem Naim confirmed that Hamas would not completely disarm and that the movement would only hand over its weapons to a Palestinian state and integrate its fighters into a Palestinian national army.
“No one has the right to deny us the right to resist the occupation of armies,” Naim said.
As the ceasefire took effect on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel might restart the genocide if Hamas does not give up its weapons.
“Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized … If this is achieved the easy way, so much the better. And if not, it will be achieved the hard way,” Netanyahu stated in a televised address.
The prime minister is under pressure from Jewish supremacists ministers in his cabinet who insist on continuing the war to ethnically cleanse Gaza and annex it for the sake of building Jewish settlements.
During Friday’s interview, Naim thanked US President Donald Trump, saying the ceasefire would not have been possible without the pressure he applied to Netanyahu.
“Without the personal interference of President Trump in this case, I don’t think that it would have happened to have reached the end of the war,” Naim stated.
“Therefore, yes, we thank President Trump and his personal efforts to interfere and to pressure Israel to bring an end to this massacre and slaughtering.”
But Naim insisted that Trump must continue to apply pressure on Israel to honor the ceasefire agreement moving forward.
Hamas is scheduled to release the remaining 46 Israeli captives it holds in Gaza by Monday, including 20 still alive, after a 72-hour deadline.
“We believe and we hope that President Trump will continue to interfere personally and to exercise the maximum pressure on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to fulfil its obligation,” Naim explained.
“We have already seen Netanyahu speaking to the media, threatening to go to war again if this doesn’t happen, if that doesn’t happen.”
The top Hamas official also warned that the movement rejects any role for former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in administering post-war Gaza.
Naim cited Blair’s role in helping US President George Bush and Israel-first members of his administration launch wars against Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003, which killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims.
“We can still remember him very well after destroying Iraq and Afghanistan,” Naim explained.
Under Trump’s ceasefire plan, Blair is seeking to lead an international supervisory body to administer Gaza on Israel’s behalf.