Hamas leadership is convinced that the United States could support the movement’s continued possession of weapons in the Gaza Strip and persuade Israel to accept such an arrangement, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal said.
“The Palestinian people will not agree to the disarmament of Hamas, and our allies may be able to propose a formula under which the movement retains its weapons—one that the US administration could endorse,” Mashal stated. “If this goal is achieved, the US could impose this condition on Israel as well.” His remarks were published on Hamas’s official Telegram channel.
Mashal added that, in his view, Hamas fighters might “refrain from using or displaying their weapons,” but the arms are essential to prevent a sharp escalation by Israel. “Disarming the Palestinians would mean their destruction,” he argued.
The Hamas official also reiterated the group’s opposition to the idea of deploying peacekeeping forces inside Gaza, saying such troops should remain only along the enclave’s borders. Should peacekeepers enter Gaza, Mashal warned, they “would immediately become an occupation force, indistinguishable from the Israelis.”
On November 26, Sky News Arabia reported that mediators meeting in Cairo had discussed the possibility of temporarily allowing Hamas fighters to keep light weapons “for a certain period.” Under that proposal, the fighters would later turn over their arms to international security forces expected to be deployed in Gaza under a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump.
According to Egypt’s Al-Qahera Al-Ikhbariya channel, key obstacles to implementing the second stage of the Gaza agreement include both Hamas’s disarmament and the deployment of international forces in the enclave. Hamas representatives have refused to hand over any weapons, citing the need for self-defense.
As for the plan to station international forces—primarily from Islamic countries—in Gaza, those nations have reportedly been reluctant to accept the proposal. Their representatives have questioned how Muslim or Arab soldiers could be expected to confront fellow Arabs and Palestinians who support the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas's full name).
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Based on materials from TASS