Amid reports that Israel is warning President Donald Trump that Iran is rebuilding its infrastructure to restart its nuclear weapons program, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., acknowledged that while Iran's nuclear sites were "obliterated," its "desire" for nuclear weapons was not.
"I'm going to let the Israelis talk to President Trump about it, but here's what I learned on my trip: We obliterated their nuclear facilities, but we did not obliterate their desire to have a bomb," Graham told Sunday's NBC "Meet the Press" after a fact-finding diplomatic trip to the Middle East.
"Have they tried to open up enrichment in other areas? I think they may have.
"Are they trying to rebuild their ballistic missile force to overwhelm the Iron Dome? I believe they are."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning a trip to South Florida to meet with Trump, potentially at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 29, bringing with him a pitch to launch new strikes on Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
That meeting also comes as Phase 2 of the Gaza ceasefire could lead to renewed armed conflict with Hamas terrorists who refuse to disarm.
"The Trump people, administration deserves a lot of credit for getting a ceasefire," Graham said. "It's been 90 days now. What did I learn on this trip? That Hamas is not disarming. They're rearming.
"Hamas is not abandoning power. They're consolidating power. That's what the military intelligence people in Israel told me.
"That's what the IDF told me. That's what our own people told me."
Peace in Gaza will require some more force, Graham predicted.
"So I am all for a stabilizing force," he continued. "I'm all for board of peace. But you can't have a board of peace, you can't have a stabilizing force in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed.
"They're not being disarmed. There's nobody coming over the horizon to disarm them. So I would urge President Trump to meet with Prime Minister Bibi next week and come up with a plan.
"Put Hamas on a time clock. If they don't turn over their weapons and stop rearming at a date certain, I would unleash Israel on them. That's what I would do."
Hamas terrorists remain resolute to fight to their death, Graham concluded.
"There is no pathway forward to peace as long as Hamas has their arms and they intend to stay in power," he said. "They're doing both. They, instead, intend to stay in power. They're not disarming.
"And I think it's going to come down to Israel to do that unless there's a changing event on the ground. I see no effort by Hamas to voluntarily disarm. I see no effort for them to give up power, quite the opposite.
"As to Iran, they're up to no good."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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