Hamas and Islamic Jihad have just thrown a wrench into President Donald Trump’s carefully crafted peace plan by flat-out refusing to disarm, a core condition for lasting stability in Gaza.
This week’s drama, centered on a fragile ceasefire signed on Monday in Egypt, sees both Palestinian terrorist groups defying Trump’s 20-point roadmap, which also demands the return of hostages and a shift to internationally supervised governance, while their ongoing violence in Gaza threatens to unravel the entire deal.
Breitbart reported that the ceasefire signing in Egypt was meant to be a turning point, a rare moment of hope after endless conflict.
Yet, by Tuesday, Islamic Jihad’s Deputy Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Hindi scoffed at the very idea of laying down arms, claiming, “The weapons belong to the Palestinian people, and they will not be surrendered before there is a Palestinian state."
That’s a bold statement for a group supposedly at the negotiating table. Apparently, they think statehood is a prerequisite for peace, not a result of it.
Hamas, not to be outdone, echoed this defiance when politburo member Mohammed Nazzal dodged questions on disarmament, vaguely musing to Reuters about maintaining armed control over Gaza indefinitely.
Since Monday, Hamas hasn’t just talked tough—they’ve acted, executing dozens of Palestinians labeled as collaborators or gang members in Gaza City streets, as reported by Reuters citing local security sources.
This brutal campaign to consolidate power, including violent clashes with rival factions like the Doghmush clan, shows a group more interested in dominance than dialogue.
Adding insult to injury, Hamas violated the ceasefire by failing to return hostages’ bodies as agreed, even delivering a misidentified Palestinian corpse instead of an Israeli hostage, as confirmed by Israeli forensic testing on Wednesday.
President Trump, never one to mince words, fired back on Tuesday, declaring, “They will disarm, and if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently."
By Thursday, after discussions with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Trump doubled down, warning via Truth Social that continued killings by Hamas in Gaza could force U.S. intervention.
Trump’s patience is wearing thin, and his insistence on demilitarization as a condition for Gaza’s reconstruction isn’t just tough talk—it’s a pragmatic stance against endless cycles of violence.
On the hostage front, the situation is equally grim—Hamas committed to returning 28 bodies of those who died or were murdered in captivity, yet by Thursday, only 10 were handed over, including the misidentified remains.
This isn’t the first time; earlier this year, they pulled a similar stunt by delivering the wrong body instead of Shiri Bibas, a tragic reminder of their disregard for agreements.
If this ceasefire is to hold, Hamas must stop playing games with grieving families and honor their commitments—full stop.