Israel announced on Monday that it is giving Hamas 60 days to give up its weapons, warning that military operations could resume if the group does not adhere to this ultimatum.
Hamas "will have to give up all its weapons," including rifles, Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said during a conference in Jerusalem, as quoted by the news portal The Times of Israel.
Fuchs claimed that the 60-day period was requested by the US administration.
"We are respecting this," he was quoted as saying.
Without confirming when exactly the ultimatum will begin, Fuchs stressed that it could begin with the February 19 meeting of US President Donald Trump's Peace Board.
"We will evaluate it," Fuchs said. "If it works, great. If not, then the IDF (army) will have to end the mission."
Recall that a US-backed ceasefire agreement has been in effect in Gaza since October 10, ending Israel's two-year war that has killed more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.
Since the agreement came into effect on October 10, Israeli forces have committed hundreds of violations through shelling and gunfire, killing 603 Palestinians and wounding 1,618 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The second phase of the ceasefire agreement began in mid-January and includes provisions related to the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Hamas has rejected calls to surrender its weapons, proposing instead that they be "stored or frozen."
The group emphasizes that it is a resistance movement against Israel, which the UN considers an occupying power in the Palestinian territories. /Telegraph/
