DOHA, Qatar — A Hamas source told The Times of Israel on Sunday that the group will only agree to give up its weapons through negotiations that result in the establishment of a Palestinian state. “This cannot be done by force or ultimatums. Israel used all of its military might for two years [to try and disarm Hamas], and it didn’t work,” the Hamas source said in a rare engagement with an Israeli media outlet.
The ability of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan to advance past its first phase largely hinges on Hamas agreeing to disarm, with Israel pledging to resume the war if the Palestinian terror group doesn’t agree to give up its weapons willingly. Hamas’s readiness to discuss the issue may be a break from its long-standing insistence that disarmament demands are a nonstarter, but the steep conditions that the Hamas source set for progress are sure to further complicate Washington’s efforts to sustain the ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamas has managed to reassert its dominance in the near-half of the Strip from which the IDF has withdrawn since the Trump plan’s phase one truce and hostage release deal was inked on October 9. (Read More)
