Visiting US-Israeli ceasefire HQ, Netanyahu vows ‘joint effort’ to ensure Hamas disarmament

In light of ongoing Hamas violations of the current ceasefire and Israel’s brief response yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stresses that Israel’s “security responsibility for our forces and our freedom of action” in the Strip is accepted by Israel’s partners.

Visiting the Kiryat Gat US-Israeli headquarters of the multinational force overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, Netanyahu explains that Israel “wants to ensure that the goal agreed upon by President Trump and myself, with the consent of others — the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza — will be achieved.”

“We are working toward this in stages, together with other components of the plan,” he says, standing alongside visiting US CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper.

“There is a real joint effort here, maintaining our security in our own hands, to achieve results that perhaps no one believed we could reach — but we are determined to try,” Netanyahu says. “President Trump said it simply: We will either achieve this the easy way — as we hope — or the hard way. But we will achieve what we are determined to achieve.”

Netanyahu is joined by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s liaison to the Civil-Military Coordination Center Commander Maj. Gen. Yaki Dolf, Shin Bet director David Zini and senior IDF officers.