Donald Trump Warns Hamas: Disarm or Face United States-Backed Intervention as Gaza Ceasefire Hangs in Balance

 

Washington, DC – October 19, 2025 – In a stark reminder of the fragility of Middle East peace efforts, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a veiled threat Sunday against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has governed Gaza for nearly two decades. Speaking in a wide-ranging interview on FOX News, Trump declared he lacks a "hard" timeline for Hamas to surrender its arsenal under the recently inked Gaza ceasefire deal but cautioned that failure to comply could prompt intervention by the United States, its "proxies," or Israel. The remarks, delivered amid reports of escalating internal violence in Gaza, underscore the mounting challenges to Trump's ambitious 20-point peace framework, which he touted as a pathway to lasting stability in the war-torn enclave.

The interview, conducted with FOX News anchor Bret Baier at the White House, came just over a week after the ceasefire's first phase took effect on October 10, following months of high-stakes diplomacy. Trump, who brokered the deal through envoys including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East advisor Steve Witkoff, reiterated his administration's commitment to enforcing the agreement. "They said they would [disarm]... if we have to, we will disarm them," Trump said, emphasizing that any action would avoid "boots on the ground" from U.S. forces. "Whether it's me, the US, or it's a proxy, could be Israel, with our backing." When Baier pressed on a specific timeline, Trump demurred: "I don't have a hard line, but the US would see how it all works out." He added a note of skepticism about Hamas's intentions, questioning whether the group—responsible for the October 7, 2023, attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis and sparked the war—would truly relinquish power.

The ceasefire, announced by Trump on October 9, marked a tentative breakthrough after two years of relentless conflict that has devastated Gaza. Phase one, now underway, mandates the release of all remaining Israeli hostages—20 living captives and the remains of at least 24 others—in exchange for over 1,700 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. In return, Israeli forces have partially withdrawn to a buffer line, ceding control of about 47% of Gaza while retaining a "security perimeter" along key borders. Humanitarian aid has surged into the strip, with dozens of trucks entering daily under the supervision of a new U.S.-led civil-military coordination center in Israel. Displaced Palestinians have begun trickling back to northern areas like Gaza City, where entire neighborhoods lie in rubble.

Yet, even as families reunite—such as the Chen family, whose son Itay was among the last hostages freed on October 13—the deal's second phase looms as a flashpoint. Trump's plan envisions Gaza's demilitarization, the decommissioning of Hamas's weapons under "independent" monitors, and the establishment of a transitional governing body excluding the group. Reconstruction would follow, funded by a $53 billion Arab League proposal, transforming the enclave into what Trump has called the "Riviera of the Middle East." A "Board of Peace," chaired by the U.S. president, would oversee the process, with provisions for Palestinian self-determination and safe passage for any Hamas members seeking exile or amnesty.

Hamas's response has been tepid at best. While the group complied with initial hostage releases, it has publicly balked at full disarmament, insisting it would only lay down arms after the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state—a condition Israel and the U.S. have rejected. On October 16, Hamas released a video showing the execution of eight alleged "collaborators" in Gaza, targeting Palestinian clans and criminal gangs in a bid to consolidate control. The footage, verified by Agence France-Presse, depicted blindfolded men kneeling before masked gunmen, drawing condemnation from the White House. "If Hamas keeps killing people in Gaza, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them," Trump said in a follow-up statement, escalating his rhetoric.

These incidents have fueled accusations that Hamas is violating the ceasefire almost immediately. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have accused the group of rearming and using the truce to regroup. Netanyahu, who addressed Israel's Knesset alongside Trump during the president's visit to Jerusalem on October 13, warned that "the war will only end after Hamas disarms." U.S. Vice President JD Vance echoed this during a trip to Israel last week, stressing that the ceasefire is a "top priority" but contingent on compliance. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera, described the situation as "fragile" but affirmed ongoing mediation with Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to enforce the 20 points.

The conflict's human cost amplifies the stakes. Since Hamas's October 7 assault— which included massacres at kibbutzim and a music festival—Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 68,172 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, with nearly 30% under 18. Independent analyses, including a January 2025 Lancet study, suggest the true toll from traumatic injuries alone exceeds 70,000 as of October 2024, not accounting for indirect deaths from famine, disease, and collapsed infrastructure. A peer-reviewed report from the University of Cambridge estimated 64,260 trauma-related fatalities by mid-2024, with women, children, and the elderly comprising 59.1%. Leaked Israeli military data, reviewed by The Guardian and +972 Magazine in August 2025, indicated that 83% of deaths up to May were civilians, based on an intelligence database listing just 8,900 confirmed Hamas fighters killed out of 53,000 total.

Gaza, once home to 2.3 million people, is now largely uninhabitable. The strip's 365 square kilometers have been reduced to moonscapes: 80% of buildings destroyed, agricultural lands razed, and hospitals like Al-Shifa reduced to skeletal remains. Famine grips northern Gaza, with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declaring it a "worst-case scenario" in August. Over 90% of the population has been displaced at least once, many multiple times, amid reports of Israeli strikes even during the ceasefire's early days—such as the October 18 bus attack in Gaza City that killed 11, which Israel attributed to "suspects advancing threateningly."

International observers warn that without swift disarmament, the truce could collapse. The European Union, in a statement Friday, pledged funding and technical support to aid demilitarization, while the Arab League reiterated its reconstruction blueprint. Yet, Hamas's military wing, led by figures like Izz al-Din al-Haddad, has signaled resistance, viewing the plan as a "new occupation." Analysts like Akram Atallah, a Palestinian columnist, argue that disarming Hamas isn't merely administrative—it's existential, requiring accounting for thousands of fighters and destroying underground networks.

Trump's approach blends carrot and stick. His administration has hailed the deal as a "breakthrough," with Trump addressing the Knesset on October 13 to thunderous applause, declaring the war "over." But experts like John Mearsheimer, in a recent "Judging Freedom" podcast, predict failure without concessions on Palestinian statehood. "Hamas won't disarm without a state, and Israelis will break the ceasefire like in 2019," Mearsheimer said. Pro-Israel voices, including the Hostage Families Forum, accuse Hamas of stalling on returning all remains, with only eight bodies handed over by October 15—four misidentified.

On X (formerly Twitter), reactions ranged from cautious optimism to outright alarm. User @MOSSADil posted a video clip of Hamas executions, warning, "Unless Trump backs his threats with action... Gaza will return to Oct. 6, 2023." Palestinian analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, in an October 16 CNN appearance, urged limited U.S. options: "Getting Hamas to stop killing Palestinians and disarm is unprecedented—pressure from regional allies is key." Meanwhile, @FranceskAlbs, the UN Special Rapporteur, decried the dynamic as "You cease. I fire," accusing Israel of genocidal intent.

As Trump prepares for a potential trip to Egypt—where he signed the deal's framework in Sharm El-Sheikh—the world watches. Regional powers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have quietly endorsed the plan, seeing it as a reset for broader normalization with Israel. But with Hamas's internal purges escalating—clashes that killed dozens last week—and Israeli troops poised along the buffer zone, the ceasefire's survival hinges on enforcement. Trump's FOX News warning signals impatience: no endless talks, no U.S. occupation, but unwavering resolve. For Gaza's survivors, piecing together lives amid the ruins, the message is clear—peace demands sacrifice, starting with the guns.

The path ahead is treacherous. Phase two negotiations, set to begin next month, must resolve Gaza's governance: a technocratic committee? International stabilizers? Or renewed war? With over 170,000 Palestinians wounded—many with life-altering injuries, per the World Health Organization—and 217 journalists killed, the enclave's youth bear the scars. Schools, once havens, are bombed-out shells; 80% of farmland is contaminated. Rebuilding, as Trump's plan promises, could take decades, but only if the truce holds.

Critics on the left, like New York City Comptroller candidate Zohran Mamdani, have dismissed the deal as premature, dodging questions on Hamas's disarmament in recent interviews. Pro-Palestinian activists rally for "globalize the intifada," while Jewish diaspora groups fear a "intermission" before the next assault. On the right, Trump's base cheers the "America First" pivot—no U.S. troops, tariffs on pharma to reshore jobs amid the chaos.

In Gaza's Nuseirat camp, where children once played amid strawberry fields now cratered by bombs, displaced families huddle under tarps. "We want to go home," one mother told Reuters, clutching a released prisoner's photo. But home is rubble, and peace is a verb—demanding Hamas fold, Israel withdraw, and the world commit. Trump's gamble: back words with will, or watch the Riviera dream dissolve into dust.