Why Should Anyone Believe Trump When He Says Hamas Will Disarm?

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This afternoon, President Trump declared on Truth Social:

Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.

I do not believe him.

Israel certainly doesn't believe him. Why should it? It had no say in the matter as the U.S. negotiated with Turkey, Egypt and Qatar. The Turkish and Qatari regimes have long enabled Hamas.

Hamas has reportedly agreed to disarm. Yet I am no more inclined to believe them than I am to believe Trump.

After all, the Lebanese government agreed to disarm Hezbollah in their 2024 ceasefire agreement with Israel, and it has not come to pass.

By their very nature, Hamas and Hezbollah seek the destruction of Israel by way of violence. To disarm voluntarily and abandon that mission is to cease to exist. Hamas and Hezbollah use ceasefires to buy time to re-arm and replenish. The only circumstances under which I see Hamas and Hezbollah ever disarming is if they are bombarded with overwhelming force or collapse from within.

As for Trump, I no more believe him when he says Hamas will disarm than when he calls upon the Iranian people to take back their government only to say he never wanted regime change or has a new free trade agreement only to impose new tariffs in a matter of months as it did with Indonesia.

With perhaps the possible exception of deporting as many non-citizens as possible (i.e. Haitian migrants with TPS), I do not take President Trump at his word.