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Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/12/17/israel-must-disarm-hamas-hezbollah-netanyahu-trump/
Completing the Mission to Disarm Hizbullah and Hamas
(Israel Hayom) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser - Israel has achieved significant gains following the blow it suffered on Oct. 7. It has struck its enemies hard and, with American assistance, succeeded in forcing Hamas and Hizbullah into moves they had refused to take - releasing hostages while the IDF maintains its presence in Gaza, and ceasing fire from Lebanon as an expression of solidarity with Hamas. However, these achievements do not guarantee sustained and strategically meaningful, long-term change in the regional landscape. To achieve this goal - which means victory in the war - Hamas must be fully disarmed, and Hizbullah must either be disarmed or at minimum prevented from strengthening and returning to southern Lebanon. Such a move for Hamas would amount to admitting that the Oct. 7 attack was a mistake and accepting that, in Palestinian national memory, the attack that galvanized the Palestinian public will be recorded as a disaster and grave error. The American administration has not yet decided whether to back powerful Israeli force moves that would enable completing the collapse of Hamas. Israel must make every effort to convince Trump that backing Israel to complete the mission is also in his interest. The writer, former head of the research division of IDF Military Intelligence, heads the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.