WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Hamas would be given a limited period to disarm under the Gaza ceasefire arrangement, warning of consequences if the group fails to do so.
Trump made the remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
"There will be hell to pay" if Hamas does not comply with what he said was an agreed condition, Trump said, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will oversee Hamas's disarmament.
The president said he was "not concerned" about Israel's actions during the ceasefire or the pace of progress toward the second phase of the Gaza peace plan, stating that Israel had "lived up to the plan, 100 percent."
Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, Trump said he would try to get the second phase of the Gaza peace plan started "as quickly as we can," while stressing that the disarmament of Hamas would be a central condition.
After the talks, Trump acknowledged that the two leaders have differing views on how to approach settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
"I wouldn't say we agree on the West Bank 100 percent, but we will come to a conclusion on the West Bank," said Trump.
He announced in September that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Many Western and Arab nations repeatedly warn that such a move by Israel would effectively kill the idea of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu, for his part, described the Israel-U.S. partnership since Trump's return to the White House in January as "second to none," calling the meeting "very, very productive."
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu met separately with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Mar-a-Lago. ■
