US President Donald Trump  warned Hamas to hand over their weapons immediately. He spoke about the difficult task of finding hostages and bodies in Gaza and said Washington would act if the militant group did not comply.

“It is a gruesome process… They are digging and they are finding a lot of bodies. Then they have to separate the bodies,” he told reporters.

He detailed the conditions in which some hostages were found. “Some of those bodies have been in there a long time, and some of them are under rubble. They have to remove rubble. Some are in tunnels… that are way down under the earth,” he said.

On the issue of weapons, he made his position clear. “We want the weapons to be given… They have agreed to do it. Now they have to do it. If they don’t do it, we will do it.”

Trump reinforced the obligation of Hamas to comply with the peace agreement. “They are going to disarm, because they said they were going to disarm,” he said, warning, “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I am not playing games.”

The comments came during a bilateral lunch with Argentinian President Javier Milei at the White House, shortly after the United States unveiled a USD 20 billion support package for Argentina’s economy.

Trump called the Gaza ceasefire “the historic dawn of a new Middle East”. He described the forces of “chaos, terror and ruin” as defeated and declared that the “long and painful nightmare” was over for Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking to Israel’s Knesset, he said, “It was not only the end of a war, it was the end of an age of terror and death.”

He highlighted regional consensus on demilitarising Gaza and disarming Hamas.

“This long and difficult war has ended. In an unprecedented achievement, virtually the entire region has endorsed the plan that Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas will be disarmed and Israel’s security will not be threatened,” he said.

Trump lauded Israel’s battlefield “victories” and linked them to lasting peace. “Israel had won all that they could by force of arms. Now, it was time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East,” he said.

He reflected on the weakened state of hostile forces. “Across the Middle East, the forces of chaos, terror and ruin that had plagued the region for decades now stood weakened… defeated. A new coalition of proud and responsible nations was emerging, and because of us, the enemies of all civilisation were in retreat,” he said.

Trump went on to call the ceasefire as a turning point for families in the region. “For so many families across this land, it had been years since they had known a single day of true peace. But now, at last, not only for Israelis but also for Palestinians and for many others, the long and painful nightmare was finally over,” he said.

He recounted the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,200 Israelis and abducted 251 people. “Two years ago… thousands of innocent Israeli civilians were attacked by terrorists in one of the most evil and heinous desecrations of innocent life the world had ever seen… please know that America joined you in those two everlasting vows, never forget and never again,” he said.

Trump framed the moment as historic. “Generations from now, this would be remembered as the moment that everything began to change… Like the USA right now, it would be the golden age of Israel and the golden age of the Middle East.”

He called the ceasefire the start of a new era. “This was not only the end of a war, it was the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith, hope and of God,” he said.

He highlighted returning hostages. “After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages were returning to the glorious embrace of their families… And after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, the skies were calm, the guns were silent, the sirens were still and the sun rose on a holy land that was finallt at peace, a land and a region that would live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” he said.

Trump also reflected on his administration’s military record. “If we went into a war, we were going to win it like nobody ever had won it before… We would not be politically correct. We had settled 8 wars in 8 months, including this one,” he added.

He urged responsible nations to form partnerships. “It was more obvious than ever that the productive and responsible nations of this region should not be enemies or adversaries; they should be partners, and eventually even friends,” he said.

He called on Palestinians to embrace peace. “The choice for Palestinians could not have been more clear. This was their chance to turn forever from the path of terror and violence… The total focus of Gazans had to be on restoring the fundamentals… so they could finally have the better life their children deserved,” said the president.

Trump concluded with a warning to extremists: “It should have been clear to everyone throughout the region that decades of fomenting terrorism and extremism, jihadism and anti-Semitism, had not worked… From Gaza to Iran, those bitter hatreds had delivered nothing but misery, suffering, failure and death.”