Hamas' Refused to Down Arms

An illustrative photo of Hamas terrorists with hostage demonstrations in the background.

(photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90, Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Hamas’s refusal to disarm would leave the group in continuing breach of the new Gaza framework and could block reconstruction and other benefits promised under US President Donald Trump’s plan, The Wall Street Journal warned on Tuesday.

In an editorial on the UN Security Council’s endorsement of Trump’s 20-point proposal, the paper said that by rejecting clauses on disarmament, Hamas is effectively holding up Gaza’s recovery.

 

According to the editorial, if the second phase of Trump’s strategy fails to deliver real change on the ground because Hamas refuses to honor its commitments, the administration will need the “bravery” to walk away from the arrangement rather than repeat past peace processes that continued despite systematic violations.

The Wall Street Journal argued that the success of the Gaza plan now hinges on whether Hamas is willing to accept demilitarization as a precondition for reconstruction and political gains. WSJ's editorial board wrote that the resolution “embraces” Trump’s demand that Hamas disarm and that Gaza be demilitarized, describing the vote as a rare case in which the UN has not tried to dilute or rewrite US conditions.

The text supports a buffer zone under Israeli control and links reconstruction in Gaza to verifiable progress on security, including the removal of Hamas’s military capabilities. 

According to the exposition, Washington succeeded in resisting attempts to add language that would pressure Israel into rapid territorial concessions or tie the plan’s implementation to rigid timelines. It praised US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz for what it called muscular diplomacy that preserved the core of the original 20 points announced by Trump last month.