Hamas disarmament ‘to be solved by Israeli troops the hard way’: Israel
After receiving all of its captives taken to Gaza, Israel now says the ceasefire terms won’t move forward unless Hamas fully disarms.
Hamas has publicly refused to lay down its weapons. Two Hamas officials told Reuters news agency this week that neither the United States nor the mediators presented the Palestinian group with any detailed or concrete disarmament proposal.
Avi Dichter, a minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and former head of Israel’s domestic intelligence service, said disputes over disarmament could lead Israel back into war in Gaza.
“We have to get prepared for the war in Gaza,” Dichter told Reuters, adding that the disarmament issue “will have to be solved by Israeli troops, the hard way”.
According to a document shared by the White House last week, the Trump administration wants to see heavy weapons decommissioned immediately, with “personal arms registered and decommissioned by sector” as the police under an interim technocratic administration in Gaza “become capable of guaranteeing personal security”.
Israeli artillery shelling, air attacks continue across Gaza
Israeli artillery and aircraft continue to pound areas across the Gaza Strip, ignoring a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect more than three months ago.
An Al Jazeera team on the ground reported Israeli shelling and heavy tank fire have hit areas east of the southern city of Khan Younis since dawn.
Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets carried out three air raids on evacuated homes east of the central city of Deir el-Balah, in territory under Israeli military control.
In the north of the Strip, local sources said at least two explosions took place as the army carried out demolitions in occupied Jabalia, while Israeli troops shelled neighbourhoods east of Gaza City.
Nearly 500 Palestinians in Gaza – including children, women, and the elderly – have been killed since the Hamas-Israel truce deal came into force on October 10, 2025.
A woman reacts at the site of an Israeli attack on tents in Gaza City earlier this month
