Israel has serious concerns about Hamas disarmament

Israel has shared "serious security concerns" with the White House over a proposed disarmament deal with Hamas, an Israeli official told The Associated Press on Sunday, marking some of the first public comments since US President Donald Trump announced the deal earlier this week. 

Doron Spielman, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister's office, told the AP that Israeli intelligence assesses that Hamas remains committed to rebuilding its military capabilities, rather than truly demilitarizing. He said the Israeli military would not withdraw from Gaza, where it controls more than 60 percent of the territory, until Hamas disarms.

"Our assessment is that, if we reposition ourselves before Hamas truly disarms, it will quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, threaten Israeli communities again, and seek to carry out another attack similar to that of October 7," he said, referring to the 2023 attack that sparked Israel's war in Gaza.

"Disarmament means the physical surrender of weapons. Nothing less," Spielman said.

His comments come days after Hamas said it would begin disarming as part of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement signed nine months ago to end the nearly three-year-long conflict. 

This marks potential progress towards ending the conflict, but many obstacles, conditions, and long timelines still remain.