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** For Hamas Actually to Disarm, Trump Must Forget About All of Its Supporters: Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan, Iran – and the Palestinian Authority ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • January 4, 2026 at 5:00 am
* Ever since Trump succeeded in implementing the first stage of his 20-point plan for ending the Gaza conflict, Hamas has received widespread backing from its supporters in Ankara, Doha, Islamabad and Tehran for ignoring demands to surrender its weapons.
* Hamas's recalcitrance on the disarmament issue, moreover, has been reinforced by the support it has received from its backers in Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan and Iran to ignore the Trump administration's disarmament demand.
* Israeli officials believe that Turkey, and Qatar, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, are instead working on alternative solutions that would not require Hamas to disarm. The Turks and Qataris have proposed that Hamas either transfer its weapons to the Palestinian Authority (PA), or to some kind of "secure storage under oversight." Behind both proposals lies the aim of preserving Hamas' influence in Gaza and ability to rearm. Israel insists, however, that Hamas must be weapons‑free.
* Instead, all of Hamas's backers -- as well as the Palestinian Authority waiting in the wings to displace the group -- continue playing their dangerous double game of trying to be allies of both the Trump administration and Hamas's terrorist leadership at the same time.
* In addition, Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Pakistan have never designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation – and believe that it is entitled to continue its "resistance" -- meaning terrorism –- against Israel.
* It is commendable that the US president, rather than acting rashly, has continually offered adversaries -- such as Russia, China and Iran -- time to consider his requests. Hamas's allies, however, including the Palestinian Authority in its current form, have little incentive ever actually to comply with Trump's demands.

US President Donald Trump's demand that Hamas terrorists completely disarm will only happen if the White House is prepared to pressure countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Iran, which have historically backed the terror group, to force Hamas militants to lay down their arms. Pictured: A Hamas spokesman appears in a recorded statement to the media, in the Gaza Strip on December 29, 2025. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump's demand that Hamas terrorists completely disarm will only happen if the White House is prepared to pressure countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Iran, which have historically backed the terror group, to force Hamas militants to lay down their arms.

Ever since Trump succeeded in implementing the first stage of his 20-point plan for ending the Gaza conflict, Hamas has received widespread backing from its supporters in Ankara, Doha, Islamabad and Tehran for ignoring demands to surrender its weapons.

Requiring Hamas to disarm and end its malevolent presence in Gaza was one of Trump's key stipulations when drawing up his peace plan, with the disarmament process expected to begin as soon as all the remaining Israeli hostages had been released in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

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