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Israel Cannot Accept a Gaza Deal without Hamas Truly Disarming
(JNS) Fiamma Nirenstein - It would be welcome news if Hamas had truly agreed to surrender its weapons as part of President Trump's proposed framework to end the war. But there are good reasons for skepticism. Hamas's ideology makes genuine disarmament difficult to imagine. Israel was not a direct participant in the negotiations, but it would ultimately have to decide whether its security requirements were met. Israel has made clear that it will remain in Gaza until Hamas gives up its weapons. That is the essential condition. Hamas has lost the war. Most of its senior leadership and many of the terrorists responsible for the rapes, murders and other atrocities committed on Oct. 7, 2023, have been killed. The campaign against those who remain is still ongoing. Israel has learned the lessons of Oct. 7. Any agreement must be built on ironclad guarantees. Israel cannot withdraw from Gaza until the threat posed by Hamas has been substantially eliminated. Only complete and verifiable disarmament can ensure that the mistakes of Oct. 7 are never repeated. The writer, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, served as vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.