‘Israel’ vows Hamas “will be disarmed” after group proposes weapons freeze

• ‘Israel’ stated that Hamas "will be disarmed" as part of the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, insisting there is "no future for Hamas" under the 20-point proposal.
• This statement is in response to Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal's counter-offer of a "weapons freeze" and long-term truce, as he rejected the demand for disarmament, calling it "taking away their soul."

‘Israel’ said on Thursday that Hamas "will be disarmed" as part of the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, after a top leader from the movement suggested a weapons freeze.

"There will be no future for Hamas under the 20-point plan. The terror group will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised," the ‘Israeli’ official told AFP.

Hamas's Khaled Meshaal told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the group is open to a weapons "freeze", but rejects the demand for disarmament put forward in US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza.

He also stated that the movement accepts the deployment of international forces on the border between the Gaza Strip and ‘Israel’, but not inside the Palestinian territory.

Disarmament vs. Non-Use

Speaking from Doha with Qatar’s Al Jazeera and commenting on the issue of disarming the movement in the Gaza Strip, Meshaal said, "We want to form a picture concerning this issue which includes guarantees that the Israeli occupation war on Gaza will not return. We can do that; the weapon can be preserved and not used or displayed."

He continued, "At the same time, we put forward the idea of a long-term truce so that it constitutes a genuine guarantee."

Meshaal argued that "disarming the Palestinians means taking away their soul," adding, "Let us achieve the goal in another way."

He indicated that this is the "philosophy currently being discussed with the mediators," believing that the "pragmatic American mind" could agree to it.

Accepting Border Monitoring Forces

Regarding the international stabilization force stipulated in US President Donald Trump's plan, which was endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution, Meshaal said, "The philosophy of the stabilization force is dealt with from one entry point, and no other: that it should be present on the borders to guarantee that there will be no clashes. Its actual function is to maintain peace."

He added, "As for the presence of international forces inside Gaza, this means, in Palestinian culture and consciousness, an occupation force."

Meshaal said that the mediators who contributed to reaching the ceasefire that came into effect on Oct. 10, naming Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and Arab and Islamic nations, "can guarantee Gaza, and can guarantee Hamas and the resistance forces, so that no military escalation against Israel comes from inside Gaza."

However, he asserted that the "danger" comes from ‘Israel’.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement, reached after two years of destructive assault, stipulated the cessation of hostilities between Hamas and ‘Israel’, the exchange of ‘Israeli’ captives held in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian detainees in ‘Israeli’ prisons, the withdrawal of the ‘Israeli’ army from populated areas in the Strip, and the intensification of aid entry.

‘Israel’ is still awaiting the handover of the body of the last captive currently being searched for in Gaza.

Following this, discussions are supposed to begin on Phase Two of the agreement, which provides for the disarmament of Hamas, the formation of an international stabilization force to monitor the ceasefire, and the establishment of a technocratic committee to manage the daily affairs of the Strip, all under the supervision of a "Peace Board" supposedly to be chaired by Donald Trump.