U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States could support another major strike on Iran were it to resume rebuilding its ballistic missile or nuclear weapons programs and warned Hamas of severe consequences if it does not disarm.
Trump said his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday focused on advancing the fragile Gaza peace deal he brokered and addressing Israeli concerns over Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He suggested Tehran may be working to restore its weapons programs after a massive U.S. strike in June.
“I’ve been reading that they’re building up weapons and other things, and if they are, they’re not using the sites we obliterated, but possibly different sites,” Trump told reporters after the talks at a press conference with Netanyahu.
“We know exactly where they’re going, what they’re doing, and I hope they’re not doing it because we don’t want to waste fuel on a B-2,” he added, referring to the bomber used in the earlier strike. “It’s a 37-hour trip both ways. I don’t want to waste a lot of fuel.”
Iran, which fought a 12-day war with Israel in June, said last week that it had conducted missile exercises for the second time this month.
Netanyahu said last week that Israel was not seeking a confrontation with Iran, but was aware of the reports.
Trump in June ordered U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites but has since then broached a potential deal with Tehran.
‘Hell to pay,’ warns Trump
Trump said he wanted to move to the second phase of the ceasefire deal reached in October between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas as soon as possible, but that “there has to be a disarming of Hamas.”
Israel and Hamas accuse each other of major breaches of the deal and look no closer to accepting the much more difficult steps envisaged for the next phase. Hamas, which has refused to disarm, has been reasserting its control as Israeli troops remain entrenched in about half the territory.
Israel has indicated that if Hamas is not disarmed peacefully, it will resume military action to make it do so.
During his Monday comments, Trump heaped the blame on the militant group for not disarming more promptly, arguing that Israel had lived up to its side of the deal and warning that Hamas was inviting grave consequences.
“There will be hell to pay,” Trump warned when asked what he will do if Hamas does not lay down its arms. He has made similar statements at previous intervals during the fighting.
Netanyahu said this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes to establish transitional governance and an international security force for the Palestinian enclave against Israeli reluctance to move forward.
Trump and Netanyahu met alongside their delegations. Trump was supportive of Netanyahu ahead of the meeting, even though the Israeli prime minister has been accused of slow-walking any progress on the ceasefire deal. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)Trump, Netanyahu praise each other
While Washington has brokered three ceasefires involving its longtime ally — between Israel and Hamas, Israel and Iran, and Israel and Lebanon — Netanyahu is wary of Israel’s foes rebuilding their forces.
Overall, Trump’s comments Monday suggested he remains firmly in Netanyahu’s camp, even as some aides have privately questioned the Israeli leader’s commitment to the Gaza ceasefire. His comments also suggested he is willing to risk additional hostilities related to Gaza and Iran, even as Trump has taken credit for resolving Israel’s wars in both places.
Trump struck a warm tone as he greeted Netanyahu before their meeting, going so far as to say that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had told him he planned to pardon Netanyahu of corruption-related charges.
“He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero. How do you not give a pardon?” Trump told reporters while standing beside Netanyahu. “I spoke to the president … he tells me it’s on its way.”
But Herzog’s office was quick to challenge that statement, saying that the Israeli president had had no conversations with Trump since the request for pardon was submitted several weeks ago.
Netanyahu himself lavished praise on Trump, telling reporters after the meeting that he was gifting Trump the country’s Israel Prize, which he said has historically been reserved for Israelis.
Though a ceasefire has officially been in place since October, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed according to Gaza health officials, while three Israeli soldiers have been killed. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)Next steps in ceasefire plan
The first phase of the ceasefire included a partial Israeli withdrawal, an increase of aid and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
An Israeli official in Netanyahu’s circle said that the prime minister would demand that the first phase of the ceasefire be completed by Hamas returning the remains of the last Israeli hostage left in Gaza, before moving ahead to the next stages.
The family of the deceased hostage, Ran Gvili, joined the prime minister’s visiting entourage.
Israel has yet to open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, also a condition of Trump’s plan, saying it will only do so once Gvili’s remains are returned.
People attend a rally Sunday calling for the return of deceased Israeli hostage Ran Gvili, who was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and whose body has been held in Gaza ever since. (Maya Levin/The Associated Press)Reaction in Gaza
In Gaza City, Nadeem Matar told CBC’s Mohamed El Saife ahead of the Mar-a-Lago meeting that he is just sick of the misery his family and others are living in, and just wants the war to end.
“Enough blood, enough destruction, enough war,” he said. “What more does he want? There is nothing left for Netanyahu to do. It’s over.”
Jihad Matar told CBC News Palestinians just want to live freely and hope the ceasefire plan can move to phase two soon.
“They say Netanyahu is delaying because of a soldier who was a hostage, and others say Hamas is the one delaying,” Matar said. “We’re hanging in the balance and I don’t know what’s happening.”
WATCH | Holidays during tenuous ceasefire:
Christmas in Gaza during a fragile ceasefire
In Gaza City’s Holy Family Church, Palestinian Christians are preparing for a modest Christmas after two years of war. Israel and Hamas signed a truce on Oct. 9 to halt the war, but health authorities say hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the peace plan began.
Chuck Freilich, a political scientist at Tel Aviv University, said that with an election due in October, Netanyahu is in a tight spot.
“He doesn’t want a clash with Trump in an election year,” Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser, said. “[Trump] wants to go forward, and Bibi [Netanyahu] is going to have to make some compromises there.”
While the fighting has abated, it has not stopped entirely. Although the ceasefire officially began in October, Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to Gaza health officials, and Palestinian militants have killed three Israeli soldiers.