Trump says Hamas must disarm or 'we will disarm them'

CAIRO – 15 October 2025: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday asserted that he had communicated to Hamas that the group must disarm or face enforced disarmament, Reuters reported.

Hamas disarmament is part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which includes a ceasefire, a prisoner swap agreement, and a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries in the first phase.

The ceasefire took effect on Friday and all 20 living captives and some of the deceased who had been held in Gaza since October 2023 had been released this week as Hamas and Israel approved the initial phase of the deal.

However, later phases of the agreement, which include contentious issues like Hamas disarmament and post-war Gaza governance are set to be discussed later.

"If they don't disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently," Trump said during a White House meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei.

Trump claimed that he had conveyed this demand to Hamas and that the group had agreed to disarm.

"I spoke to Hamas, and I said, you're going to disarm, right? Yes, sir, we're going to disarm. That's what they told me," he said, later clarifying that the message had been relayed through intermediaries.