No end to Gaza war unless Hamas returns all hostages and disarms: ambassador

There will be no end to the war in Gaza if Hamas does not hand over all 48 living and deceased hostages and completely disarm per the terms of the agreement finalized overnight between Hamas and Israel, Jerusalem’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, warned in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday. 

The Israeli government is expected to approve the peace deal first presented by President Donald Trump late last month, and then agreed to by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu. 

But concerns remain over Hamas’ commitment and ability to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages within a 72-hour window beginning Friday night local time, as directed under the terms of the agreement.

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“They have an obligation to return everyone in 72 hours. Hopefully we’re going be able to keep everything within that framework,” Leiter said when asked about concerns over Hamas’ ability to immediately hand over all the deceased hostages. “There are some glitches that we have to deal with, and this issue is one of them. 

“But we need to see all the bodies back, and I don’t think we’re going to be able to move forward until we do have everyone,” he added.

Leiter said a part of the problem is Hamas did not diligently keep track of where it left the bodies of the deceased, but warned that until every body is returned, Israel will not withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.

An international task force involving the U.S., Qatar and Egypt has been formed to help Israel recover the bodies of the deceased, but the White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding what role the U.S. will play or if there will be American boots on the ground aiding the search. 

An agreement was reached overnight after mediators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar worked for days with Hamas and Israeli officials to hash out details of the peace agreement, though it remains unclear if there were any changes made to Trump’s original 20-point plan. 

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Reports over the weekend suggested Hamas objected to the calls that it completely disarm – though in exchange it would also be granted amnesty and a path out of Gaza to an accepting third party nation should they choose to leave – and Leiter was unable to shed light on whether Hamas has formally conceded to the disarmament terms. 

“We hope it proceeds according to the president’s plan,” Leiter said. “We assume, having long experience with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and these terrorist organizations, that there are going to be glitches along the way.

“Look, they’re going down. This is basically a surrender on Hamas’s part. They don’t like it one bit, and they’re going to do whatever they can to try to show that they’re still relevant,” the ambassador warned. 

Disarmament is not a part of the first phase, which involves the complete return of all hostages, the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops to a designated line as agreed to by Israel and Hamas, and the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 of whom are serving life sentences for terrorist offenses, including murder. 

The second phase would involve further withdrawal of Israeli forces in coordination with the complete disarmament of Hamas and demilitarization of the enclave. An international “peace body” headed by Trump would also be established to begin the process of rebuilding the Gaza Strip. 

“We’ve put all the focus now on the first phase,” Leiter said, while acknowledging that Hamas has made comments suggesting it will not disarm and the second phase of a peace deal could once again collapse.  

“But that’s part of the plan – that’s very clearly part of the president’s plan. That was the goal set out by Prime Minister Netanyahu from the outset, that Hamas is disarmed, that Gaza is de-radicalized and demilitarized. 

“We can’t go back into a situation where we have Jihadi militants sitting at our border, or else we haven’t accomplished anything,” the ambassador said. “This is performance-based. They disarm, they are disarmed if necessary, and then Israel withdraws.”