Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned Hamas is “rearming” rather than “disarming” and urged President Donald Trump to “unleash Israel” on the terrorist organization if it continues to ignore the ceasefire agreement he spearheaded.
Graham shared his thoughts during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. He joined the program from Tel Aviv, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Graham said his time in Israel, coupled with American intel, makes it clear Hamas is back to stacking weapons.
“Netanyahu says Israel could move to Phase II of this peace plan as soon as the end of this month,” host Kristen Welker said. “But as you know, senator, that involves the disarmament of Hamas and transferring control of Gaza to an international security force. Do you believe Hamas is ready to disarm?”
“Absolutely not,” Graham told her.
He said the Trump Administration deserves “a lot of credit’ for the ceasefire deal. But the terrorist organization is not adhering to the deal, he said.
“What did I learn on this trip? That Hamas is not disarming, they’re rearming,” Graham said. “Hamas is not abandoning power, they’re consolidating power.”
His comment comes a few days after the Trump Administration had commitments from six countries to join Trump on the Board of Peace overseeing post-war Gaza. Those countries are Egypt, Italy, Germany, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Graham said that
“You can’t have a Board of Peace, you can’t have a stabilizing force, until Hamas is disarmed. They’re not being disarmed.”
“I would urge President Trump to meet with Prime Minister Bibi next week and come up with a plan, put Hamas on a time clock. If they don’t turn over their weapons and start rearming at a date certain, I would unleash Israel on ’em, that’s what I would do.”
Trump went to Israel in October to celebrate the peace deal, which brought an end to the War in Gaza that started soon after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The president said less then two weeks later Hamas would pay a “BRUTAL” price if it did not disarm.
Watch above.
