Foreign Affairs

Rubio Breaks Down Which Part Of Hamas Deal Will Be ‘A Tough Piece’

[Screenshot/CSPAN]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” the “tough piece” of the Hamas deal will be addressing the demobilization of the terror group.

Hamas announced Friday it is tentatively agreeing to release all remaining hostages and relinquish power under President Donald Trump’s proposed ceasefire agreement. Highlighting Trump’s statement that Hamas cannot pose a threat again, ABC’s Martha Raddatz noted to Rubio about how the agreement has yet to address the “disarming” phase for Hamas.

“Yeah, look, that’s going to be a key component of that second phase we just discussed as long as there’s a threat emanating from Gaza against Israel’s security, be it Hamas or some successor organization. As long as there are people, organizations inside of Gaza who possess rockets, build tunnels, want to kidnap, murder, and rape Israeli citizens and attack Israel, there isn’t going to be peace,” Rubio said.

The tentative agreement from Hamas came shortly after Trump, on Friday morning, gave the terror group a deadline of 6 p.m. Sunday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that remaining Hamas fighters would be spared if they agreed to release all hostages, including those who are dead.

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Rubio added that Arab countries signed onto the deal, which he noted envisions Gaza being run by Palestinians who “do not pose a threat to Israel” like Hamas.

“Everyone knows this, including the Arab countries in the region,” Rubio continued, “which is why they all signed on to this deal put forward by President Trump that deals with the fact that what Israel wants, what we want, what the deal envisions, what the countries in the region envision is a Gaza that’s run by Palestinian technocrats and Palestinian civil servants and Palestinian leaders that do not pose a threat to Israel. If there is a threat emanating from Gaza, you’re not going to have peace here that’s sustainable.”

“So that has to happen. That demobilization has to happen. And clearly, Hamas is an organization that we do not believe can be a part of that because of their history. Their very purpose for existence is to threaten the Israeli state,” Rubio added. “So that’ll have to be addressed in the second phase, and it’s going to be a tough piece of it, no doubt about it. But if we truly want enduring peace, anyone who’s in favor of enduring peace should be in favor of demobilization of Hamas or any other armed terrorist organization that seeks to operate from Gaza.”

With the war just days away from its two-year anniversary, Palestinians are reportedly growing impatient with Hamas and its control over the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, residents there are urging Hamas to accept a peace deal with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid growing concerns over humanitarian aid for those living in the area, according to a report from The New York Times.

Since the tentative deal was announced, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to lead a delegation to Cairo to begin talks with Israel and Hamas. Trump thanked Israel for temporarily stopping “the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed” in a Saturday post on Truth Social. He also urged Hamas to move quickly.