Israel gives 60-day ultimatum for Hamas to disarm, threatens to return to war

By Abdel Ra'ouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel said Monday that it will give a 60-day ultimatum for the Palestinian group Hamas to disarm, threatening to resume war if the Palestinian group fails to comply.

Hamas “will have to give up all of its weapons,” including rifles, Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said during a conference in Jerusalem, as cited by The Times of Israel news portal.

Fuchs claimed that the 60-day period was asked by the US administration.

“We are respecting that,” he said.

Without confirming when the ultimatum will exactly start, Fuchs said it might begin with the Feb. 19 meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.

“We will evaluate it,” Fuchs said. “If it works, great. If not, then the IDF (army) will have to complete the mission.”

There was no immediate comment from Hamas or Washington on the Israeli claim.

A US-backed ceasefire agreement has been in place in Gaza since Oct. 10, halting Israel’s two-year war that has killed more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.

Since the agreement took effect on Oct. 10, Israeli forces have committed hundreds of violations through shelling and gunfire, killing 603 Palestinians and injuring 1,618 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The second phase of the ceasefire agreement began in mid-January and includes provisions related to disarming Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza.

Hamas has rejected calls to surrender its weapons, proposing instead that they be “stored or frozen.” The group stresses that it is a resistance movement against Israel, which the UN considers the occupying power in Palestinian territories.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul.