From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Huckabee: ‘I don’t know’ who will disarm Hamas, but it won’t be international force
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US Ambassador Mike Huckabee says that he doesn’t know who is going to disarm Hamas in Gaza, but promises it will happen.
“It’s a matter of when, and who will do it,” he says at the Tel Aviv Conference.
“Who’s going to do the actual disarming? I don’t know,” he admits.
Huckabee also says that the International Stabilization Force is not going to disarm Hamas: “That is not so much a military force as it is a monitoring-the-border force. Who is actually going to do the disarming? I don’t know. It could end up that the only entity willing to do it is the IDF.”
Huckabee also confirms what US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said yesterday, that Israel sent an Iron Dome battery and soldiers to the UAE to defend the country during the war against Iran.
“I’d like to say a word of appreciation for United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham accord member,” Huckabee says. “Just look at the benefits. Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them.”
“The Gulf states now understood they will have to make a choice — is it more likely they will be attacked by Iran or Israel?” Huckabee asks. “They see that Israel helped us and Iran attacked us. Israel is not trying to take over your land, and is not sending missiles to you.”
The envoy says at the conference that Trump’s demands on Iran have not changed. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and they’re not going to be able to have enriched uranium,” he says.
He also calls for a crackdown on Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
“The consequence for an Israeli attacking a Palestinian should be the same as a Palestinian attacking an Israeli,” he says.
The Times of Israel Community.