Israel poised to give Hamas deadline for disarming, says minister

Israel’s finance minister says Jerusalem will give Hamas a deadline in the next few days, ordering the terror group to disarm within two months – or be destroyed.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel is poised to give Hamas a deadline for handing over its arsenal, a senior government minister announced Monday, after which the IDF will launch a new campaign in Gaza against the terror group should it fail to disarm.

Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) spoke at an agricultural conference focused on pioneering farms in Samaria, declaring that the Netanyahu government is on the verge of “killing” the idea of Palestinian statehood once and for all.

“We are carrying out the final elimination of the idea of an Arab state—a terror state in the very heart of the Land of Israel,” said Smotrich.

“We are killing this idea, removing it from the table forever. This term will be remembered as a turning point that killed the idea of a Palestinian state and cemented our existence. We will also reach formal sovereignty, God willing.”

Turning to the ceasefire in Gaza, Smotrich said that Israel will issue a deadline to Hamas in the next few days, giving the terror group roughly two months to disarm or else face a renewed IDF ground campaign.

“Phase two [of the Trump plan] is dismantlement and demilitarization. It’s a shame we didn’t start this already three months ago. After all, the only one benefiting from this interim period is Hamas—because it has a ceasefire, it’s receiving truckloads [of supplies], and it is gradually re-establishing its control.”

Smotrich predicted that Hamas would not comply, and that hostilities in Gaza will resume once the deadline passes.

“In the coming days we will issue an ultimatum to Hamas—on the order of about two months—to disarm. I don’t see that happening, and therefore I’m calm. We will not stop… even one second before Hamas is destroyed. There will be no Hamas in Gaza—not militarily, not civilly, and not as a governing authority. We committed to this, and it is the central goal of the war.”