Trump Warns Hamas and Iran After Meeting Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump issued new warnings to Hamas and Iran on Monday after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, CBS News and NBC News reported.

Trump said Hamas would be given “a very short period of time” to disarm under the Gaza peace plan, with envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in charge for the U.S. side. “If they don’t disarm, as they agreed to do, then there will be hell to pay for them,” he said, according to CBS News. He also said that 59 countries that signed on to the deal “want to go in and wipe out Hamas” if the group does not comply, but he did not name them. The next phase of the plan, he said, could move forward quickly if Hamas disarms. NBC News noted that Hamas did not agree to the demilitarization of Gaza that Trump laid out.

On Iran, Trump said it “may be behaving badly” and suggested it was trying to rebuild nuclear sites after the U.S. struck three of them this year. “If it’s confirmed, look, there will be consequences. Consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than last time,” he said, NBC News reported. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said that any “aggressive action” would meet a “harsh and regrettable” response, and Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said the response would go “beyond what the attacker expects,” according to NBC News. NBC News reported that Netanyahu was expected to argue that Iran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program could require swift action.

Trump said he and Netanyahu still do not agree completely on the West Bank, CBS News reported. Netanyahu called the meeting “very, very productive” and said Trump will receive the Israel Prize, saying it has never been awarded to a non-Israeli. It was the sixth meeting between the two since Trump took office in January, CBS News said.

The Gaza ceasefire has largely held but is strained. NBC News reported that more than 400 people have been killed in Gaza since the truce, according to local officials, and that Israel has accused Hamas of violations including the delayed return of hostage remains, with one body still to be handed over. The U.N. Security Council approved the second phase of Trump’s 20-point plan last month, under which Israeli forces would withdraw and Hamas would give up its weapons, but few details have been confirmed about the “Board of Peace” Trump would head or the international force meant to deploy in Gaza, NBC News said.

The Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023 killed about 1,200 people, with about 250 taken hostage, according to NBC News. Palestinian Health Ministry figures put the death toll in Gaza at more than 70,000 since the war began, NBC News reported.