US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee defended the Trump administration's direct talks with senior Hamas officials, saying the meetings are intended to deliver a clear message that the terrorist organization must disarm and has no future in Gaza. In a wide-ranging interview with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, Huckabee addressed criticism from bereaved families over a recent meeting between presidential envoy Jared Kushner and senior Hamas figures.
Several bereaved families distributed advertisements under the headline, “You fight terrorism, you don’t talk to it," sharply criticizing Kushner for engaging in talks with the organization’s leadership. The campaign prominently features Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and one of the key figures in the organization’s leadership involved in the negotiations currently underway.
"I understand it," Huckabee said of the criticism, noting that Kushner's meeting was intended to ensure that Hamas heard the US position directly rather than through mediators such as Qatar, Egypt or Turkey.
Huckabee said the message delivered to Hamas was that the organization is expected to fulfill its commitments under the peace plan, including disarming and demilitarizing Gaza. "I don't think people should be alarmed or as upset as they should be grateful that we're sending the message to their faces and making it clear that this is just not something that is being said and maybe, I don't know, possibly gently said. It was boldly said and forthrightly said to them, 'Your time is up.'"
Asked whether the United States still considers Hamas a terrorist organization, Huckabee responded unequivocally. "Absolutely. They are still what we've always said they are. They're a terror organization. They're not a government. They're savages," he said, describing the October 7 attack as "the unspeakable horror of this generation."
Huckabee stressed that the United States continues to recognize Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas. He pointed to the lack of US criticism when Israel acted to defend the designated yellow line in Gaza or conducted operations against terrorists responsible for murdering and attacking civilians.
Turning to the future of Gaza, Huckabee rejected the notion that the Trump administration believes Hamas will voluntarily change its ideology. "Nobody in the United States is naive enough to think that Hamas is going to change their ways. We know who they are. We saw what they did. They haven't changed."
Huckabee emphasized that Hamas has yet to surrender any of its weapons, despite disarmament being a central element of the peace plan. Earlier this week, while speaking with a Saudi television network, Huckabee said he was asked why Israel had not begun withdrawing from Gaza.
"I said, let me ask you something. Let's remember that the very first element of the 20-point peace plan is Hamas has to disarm. So how many guns have they given up? How many? Can you give me a number? Well, the number is zero. Not a pistol, not a rifle, not one, not even so much as a slingshot., So for anybody to think that somehow Hamas has changed its ways, obviously they haven't."
Huckabee also addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to a revised version of the plan, saying there is a distinction between the original 20-point plan and a subsequent 15-point revision. "He's against the 15-point revision. He has stuck with the 20-point, which starts with Hamas disarmament. I think there's some confusion there," Huckabee said.
He described Israel as a cooperative partner in the process, pointing to its role in helping establish the International Stabilization Force and hosting the Civil-Military Coordination Center, which he said has developed into an operations center for planning Gaza's future.
"Israel has been incredibly cooperative, but never at the expense of their national security," Huckabee said. "That's where the line is drawn. And I don't think anyone expects anything less from the state of Israel."
Watch Ambassador Mike Huckabee's full interview later today on Arutz Sheva - Israel National News.