Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would be difficult to form an international coalition to disarm the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli channel i24NEWS quoted Netanyahu on Sunday as telling members of the Security Cabinet that US President Donald Trump had failed to assemble an international coalition to open the Strait of Hormuz , reflecting the difficulty of forming a similar coalition to disarm Hamas.
Netanyahu added that Trump “understands that Hamas will not surrender its weapons,” noting that the idea of creating an international coalition to disarm the Palestinian movement is “less realistic,” which means that Israel “will have to do it itself,” referring to possible military options.
Disarming Hamas is one of the provisions of Trump’s plan, announced on September 29, to end the war in the Gaza Strip . Other provisions include the release of Israeli prisoners, a ceasefire, Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip, the formation of a technocratic government, the deployment of an international stabilization force, and the start of reconstruction operations.
Netanyahu's remarks come as the deadline for disarming Hamas approaches , amid Israeli assessments that a resolution to this issue is imminent.
On February 16, the Israeli government, through its secretary Yossi Fuchs, announced that it would give Hamas a 60-day deadline to disarm, threatening to return to war if it did not comply.
The Israeli official did not specify when the deadline would begin.
He explained that the deadline includes demanding that Hamas give up all its weapons, including individual weapons, adding that if this is not done, “the army will have to complete the mission,” referring to the resumption of the war of extermination.
Starting on October 8, 2023, Israel launched a two-year war of extermination against the Gaza Strip with American support, resulting in more than 72,000 Palestinian martyrs and more than 172,000 wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to the destruction of about 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure.
A ceasefire agreement was reached and came into effect in October 2025, but Israel continued to carry out bombing and demolition operations in various areas of the Gaza Strip, in repeated violations of the agreement.
