Hamas will “never govern Gaza,” President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday, ahead of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire between the terrorist group and Israel.
“That is completely unacceptable,” Waltz said during an interview with CBS about the prospect of a Hamas-run Gaza.
On Oct. 7, 2023, about 6,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, murdered some 1,200 people and abducted another 251. Israel launched a campaign whose stated goal was to dismantle Hamas and retrieve the hostages.
Earlier this month, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire whose first phase features the release of 33 out of 97 hostages still in Gaza in return for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners; an Israeli redeployment in the Gaza Strip and a 42-day ceasefire. The remaining hostages are to be released in following phases whose details are yet to be negotiated.
If Hamas violates the deal, the United States will not interfere with Israeli moves to punish Hamas, Waltz indicated. “I want the Israeli people to hear me loud and clear. If Hamas reneges on this deal and Hamas backs out, moves the goalpost, what have you, we will support Israel in doing what it has to do,” he said.
Waltz was optimistic when asked about the Trump administration’s chances of brokering a normalization deal between Jerusalem and Riyadh as part of the Abraham Accords. “I do think we can expand it, and that will be between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which will be tremendous,” Waltz said.
