The U.S. Central Command on Wednesday “strongly” urged Hamas to end its violence in Gaza after President Donald Trump vowed that the terror group would be disarmed.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, issued a statement calling on Hamas to take advantage of “an historic opportunity for peace … by fully standing down, strictly adhering to Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and disarming without delay.” This week, Hamas terrorists have ramped up their efforts to reassert control in the Gaza Strip after Israeli forces pulled out of most areas in Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire and hostage agreement.
At least seven men, whom Hamas accused of conspiring with Israel, were publicly executed in Gaza on Monday. Hamas has also been fighting with rival groups in Gaza in recent days.
“We strongly urge Hamas to immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza — in both Hamas-held parts of Gaza and those secured by the IDF behind the Yellow Line,” Admiral Cooper said.
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“We have conveyed our concerns to the mediators who agreed to work with us to enforce the peace and protect innocent Gaza civilians,” Cooper added. “We remain highly optimistic for the future of peace in the region.”
President Trump said on Tuesday that Hamas has already promised to disarm, a major demand in his 20-point peace plan.
“They’re going to disarm because they said they were going to disarm,” Trump said. “And if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them.”
“They know I’m not playing games,” the president added.
Media reports published last week claimed that the United States was deploying 200 troops to Israel to watch over the ceasefire, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said those reports were “NOT true and taken out of context.” Leavitt added, “To be clear: up to 200 U.S. personnel, who are already stationed at CENTCOM, will be tasked with monitoring the peace agreement in Israel, and they will work with other international forces on the ground.” CENTCOM’s area of responsibility spans across 21 nations in the Middle East.
March 15, 2025: U.S. aircrafts taking off from aircraft carrier as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces carry out precision airstrikes kicking against Iranian-backed Houthi targets across Yemen, according to CENTCOM. (Photo by CENTCOM/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance said earlier this week that the administration had no plans to put American troops on the ground in Gaza or Israel.
“We’re not planning to put boots on the ground. What we already have is a U.S. Central Command, we already have people in that region of the world,” Vance told NBC News on Sunday. “They’re going to monitor the terms of the ceasefire. They’re going to monitor, ensure the humanitarian aid is flowing.”
The first phase of Trump’s peace plan, which went into effect on Monday, did not include Hamas laying down its weapons, nor have the terrorists agreed to give up control of the Gaza Strip, another major point of the president’s plan. Trump, however, remains optimistic that the terror group will agree to those stipulations in the future.
Israel has already accused Hamas of failing to follow through on its promise to hand over all of the remaining hostages. While the 20 remaining living hostages were handed over earlier this week, Israel is still waiting to receive the remains of dozens of hostages who died in Hamas captivity.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday that one of the four bodies it has received so far “does not match any of the hostages.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called on Hamas to uphold its end of the agreement and return all 28 deceased hostages. Netanyahu’s office said that Israel “will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the fallen hostages, every last one of them.”
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