Trump says 'we will disarm' Hamas as ceasefire deal comes under threat

14 Oct 2025, 21:40 by AFP, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/afp/ · TheJournal.ie

LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago

US PPRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said that “we will disarm” Hamas if the Palestinian group’s members refuse to do it themselves, as he called for the organisation to release the bodies of hostages in Gaza.

It comes as the fifth day of Trump’s truce saw Israeli forces kill six Palestinians in separate incidents, after troops opened fire on people they called “suspects” who approached their positions.

Trump’s comments tonight were also one day after he swung through the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire deal, with questions swirling about the next phases of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.

“They’re going to disarm, because they said they were going to disarm. And if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them,” Trump told reporters at the White House about Hamas, hours after returning from Israel and Egypt.

“It will happen quickly and perhaps violently, but they will disarm.”

Hamas has so far refused to disarm despite it being a part of the next phase of Trump’s 20-point plan for a ceasefire and longer-term peace agreement in the Middle East.

Trump did not elaborate on who he meant would be involved in disarming Hamas or whether it would include US forces, but added: “You know I’m not playing games.”

The US leader added that Hamas had assured him that “yes sir, we’re going go disarm”, but later clarified that the message was passed on through intermediaries “at the highest level.”

Return of bodies

A further point of contention is that while the remaining 20 living hostages held by Hamas were freed yesterday, the group is still holding the bodies of 20 dead hostages.

Hamas returned four bodies tonight and another four yesterday.

The remains of four additional hostages handed over by Hamas today were brought into Israel from Gaza, the military said.

“Four coffins of deceased hostages… crossed the border into the state of Israel a short while ago,” the military said in a statement, adding that they were being taken for forensic testing.

Earlier today, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has today threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas failed to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.

In Gaza, the civil defence agency said five people were killed as they inspected their homes in the Shujaiya district of Gaza City.

“Israeli quadcopter drones opened fire on civilians inspecting their homes in Shujaiya,” civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said.

The Israeli military said its troops fired after “several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching IDF troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip”.

“Attempts were made to distance the suspects,” the statement said.

“The suspects did not comply and continued approaching the troops, who opened fire to remove the threat.”

Under a ceasefire deal agreed with Hamas, Israeli forces have pulled back to a so-called “yellow line”, behind which troops still hold roughly half of Gaza.

In a similar incident, Bassal said an Israeli drone strike killed one person when it targeted a group of civilians in the town of Al-Fukhari, southeast of Khan Yunis city.

When asked for comment, the military said the group had posed “an immediate threat” to troops stationed there.

“The suspects attempted to move toward an area where a Hamas weapons storage facility was positioned and was previously dismantled,” the military said.