EDITORIAL: Israel correct to be skeptical of Hamas disarmament

Ronald Reagan promoted his philosophy of “trust by verify” in negotiations with the Soviets. President Donald Trump would be wise to apply the same caution in the Middle East.

Last week, Mr. Trump announced that his Board of Peace had negotiated a deal with Hamas that includes members of the terror group agreeing to lay down their arms. If so, that would be a remarkable and unprecedented achievement, given Hamas’ historical tendencies.

Under the deal, Israel would agree to withdraw from Gaza while Hamas would “surrender its weapons and destroy its vast network of tunnels,” The Associated Press reported. At the same time, a new Palestinian government would oversee the territory, and an international security force would help keep the peace and commence rebuilding.

Mr. Trump wrote on social media that this would occur in “carefully structured phases.”

Whether this will occur is another matter. The Trump foreign policy blueprint in the Middle East — see: Iran — has been a mish-mash of optimistic and pessimistic statements amid contradictory rhetoric involving peace talks and “decapitation.”

Indeed, on Sunday, Israeli officials expressed skepticism that Hamas would be willing to disarm. A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Jewish state wouldn’t withdraw from Gaza until there is hard evidence that the terror group has been stripped of its weapons.

“Our assessment is that if we redeploy before Hamas is truly disarmed,” he said, “it will quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, once again threaten Israeli communities and carry out another Oct. 7-style attack.” He added: “Disarming means physically giving up the weapons. Nothing less.”

This is eminently reasonable. Hamas has resisted peace time and again, preferring instead to carry out its murderous philosophy against Israel while using its own citizens as human shields in an effort to highlight casualties for propaganda purposes to win support among the “useful idiots” in the United States and the West. “Trustworthy” isn’t an adjective typically used to describe Hamas.

According to a copy of the agreement obtained by the AP, Hamas is supposed to turn over its weapons to the “U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee” once it is brought in to govern. The next step will be “to decommission and store heavy weapons and to dismantle military production sites and tunnels” after the international force is in place. “The process will be linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal,” according to the wire service.

Israel officials are correct to demand assurances that they won’t be played for fools, standing down only to see Hamas quickly rebuild its military capabilities. Trust but verify must be the guiding principle.