US President Donald Trump insisted on Friday that Israel is “very happy" about the Hamas disarmament deal that he announced the previous night.
Asked during a cabinet meeting whether the US has received any assurances from Israel that it will abide by the deal, Trump replied, “We do have an understanding with Israel."
“Israel is very happy about it. Israel helped us, and they’ve been very good," Trump stated, adding, “Most people said that would be a deal that would be undoable. Will it go through its ups and downs? It’s a very complex situation over there… But it’s a great breakthrough. Nobody’s ever thought that it would be be possible to disarm Hamas."
Trump hailed the agreement as “a big step for the Middle East, and people are really impressed by it."
He was asked who Hamas would be giving its weapons to and replied, “The Board of Peace."
While Israel has not yet officially replied to the plan, a senior Israeli diplomatic official stressed on Thursday that the issue of Gaza did not come up at all during the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump in Washington this week.
The official stressed, “Israel is demanding the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of all weapons from the Gaza Strip and the territory's full demilitarization, as a precondition for any process. The reported 15-point document does not provide an adequate response to these demands, and Israel has conveyed its reservations on the matter to envoy Tony Blair."
He added, “There will be no Israeli withdrawal from the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip before Hamas is disarmed and the Strip is fully demilitarized."
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)