- Web Desk
- 49 Minutes ago

Hamas will never govern Gaza: Trump’s national security adviser
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- Reuters
- Jan 19, 2025

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday that if Hamas reneges on the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal, the United States will support Israel “in doing what it has to do.”
He added in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” “Hamas will never govern Gaza. That is completely unacceptable.”
Waltz said Trump and his team have made clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding “I want the Israeli people to hear me loud and clear.”
“If Hamas reneges on this deal and Hamas backs out, moves the goalpost, what have you, we will support Israel in doing what it has to do,” he said.
Waltz was also optimistic about the Trump administration being able to broker a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia as part of the Abraham Accords.
Meanwhile, fighting in the Gaza Strip halted on Sunday as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas took effect after a brief delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.
Residents and a medical worker in Gaza said they had heard no new fighting or military strikes since about half an hour before it was finally implemented.
Israeli airstrikes, artillery and tank attacks continued in northern Gaza after the initial deadline of 0630 GMT, Gaza-based paramedics said, killing at least 13 Palestinians and wounding dozens more before the ceasefire actually took effect at 0915 GMT. Israel’s military said it had carried out air and artillery strikes against “terror targets”.
Israel blamed Hamas for the delay after the Palestinian militant group failed to provide a list naming the first three hostages it would release later on Sunday as part of the agreement.
“Hamas was obliged to provide the names of the first female hostages to be released at 4:00 p.m. yesterday (1400 GMT on Sunday),” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told journalists shortly after the ceasefire started. “We received the list over 18 hours after it was due.”
Hamas said “technical” reasons had caused the delay, without elaborating.
