With the Israeli hostages now released and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being returned from Israeli prisons, officials look to the next phases of the Trump-brokered peace deal, which the consensus is will be the hardest. It involves the disarming of Hamas and establishing future governance of the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, President Trump made clear that Hamas would be required to disarm under the deal, warning that if the group refused to do so voluntarily, the US would intervene, possibly through force – though in characteristic fashion his comments were left ambiguous, and reporters were left wanting to know more.
“If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it will happen quickly and maybe violently,” he told reporters, emphasizing that Hamas would have no choice. When pressed on how he intended to carry out such action, Trump declined to provide details, saying, “I don’t have to explain that to you… They know I’m not playing games.”
The Pentagon has already deployed up to 200 troops to Israel where they are assisting in terms of operational oversight of the ceasefire. Trump’s words hint that it could be a short step to take some of these troops are embed them in Gaza, to assist the IDF in finally disarming Hamas.
Hamas has already reasserted control over areas previously vacated by Israeli forces and has gone on an execution campaign against alleged collaborators and criminals. Dozens have been reported killed in the last couple days.
President Trump noted that Israel had armed certain gangs and militias as part of its anti-Hamas strategy. “They took out some very bad gangs – really bad people – and that doesn’t bother me,” Trump said, appearing to offer some rare positive commentary on Hamas. “That’s fine. Those were very bad gangs.”
A day earlier, he said Hamas had received “approval” for such operations, adding that with nearly two million people returning to devastated neighborhoods, instability was a major concern. “We want it to be safe. I think it’s going to be fine. Who knows for sure,” said Trump.
Hamas has been rounding up rival armed groups which sought to undermine the group’s power…
Hamas carries out public executions just hours after signing peace treaty with Israel https://t.co/wxZSLgmm97 pic.twitter.com/XFM6LvSfsN
— New York Post (@nypost) October 14, 2025
Meanwhile, the future of the deal still has a high degree of uncertainty, given Hamas leaders have reiterated that their armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, will not surrender its weapons until an independent Palestinian state is established. However, this is a goal which the Netanyahu government has clearly rejected.
Hamas and Israel could yet further clash given the IDF has been ordered to destroy the miles and miles of tunnels which exist under Gaza, and which have formed key infrastructure for Hamas command bunkers and their foot soldiers’ movements.
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