Hamas won’t commit to disarmament, terror group says

Hamas cannot commit to disarming itself and intends to remain the ruling party in Gaza during an interim period, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a senior Hamas official. “I can’t answer with a yes or no [if Hamas is willing to disarm]. Frankly, it depends on the nature of the project. The disarmament project you’re talking about, what does it mean? To whom will the weapons be handed over?” Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal asked in an interview conducted in Doha.

The subjects to be discussed in the second stage of the ceasefire agreement, including disarmament, Nazzal continued, concern other armed Palestinian groups, which have yet to decide on the matter. Moreover, Hamas is ready for a three-to five-year ceasefire for the purpose of reconstructing the Gaza Strip, the official added.

What happens afterward depends on Palestinians, given “horizons and hope” for statehood, Reuters cited him as saying. “The goal isn’t to prepare for a future war,” Nazzal said. He defended Hamas’s public street executions last week that were filmed and published in the media, saying that “exceptional measures” are always taken during war. (Read More)