U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that Israel may have to disarm Hamas, amid growing indications the Islamic terror group is reasserting control over parts of Gaza in defiance of a ceasefire agreement that required it to disarm.
The remarks by the top American envoy hinted at both a growing dissatisfaction over the unsettled situation with Hamas in Gaza since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect on Oct. 10, 2025, a perception overshadowed by the war with Iran, and a growing realization that disarming Hamas will likely be left to the Israeli military.
“Who’s going to actually do the disarming? I don’t know,” Huckabee told a Tel Aviv University conference. “It may end up that the only entity willing to do it will be the IDF.”
Hamas currently is in control of less than half of the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli military controlling the other half.
He expressed skepticism that the much-touted International Stabilization Force, which several nations have volunteered to join and is meant to secure and govern Gaza, would be able to disarm Hamas, noting that it was a “monitoring border force” and not a demilitarizing force.
The U.S. Ambassador said that the world should thank Israel if it is the only one willing to disarm Hamas instead of censuring it.
“The world can’t condemn Israel for doing what it didn’t have the courage to do, and that’s taking Hamas down,” he said. “You don’t send someone into the fire to put out the fire and then complain because they come out smelling like smoke.”
