Hamas says it will keep weapons to deter future Israeli attacks, proposes long truce
Senior Hamas leader says movement will retain its weapons under a long-term truce that includes international guarantees
DOHA (MNTV) — Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal says the movement will retain its weapons under a long-term truce that includes international guarantees and the deployment of a UNIFIL-style force along Gaza’s borders, insisting that disarmament is “unacceptable” to Palestinians.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Meshaal said pressure to force Hamas to give up its arms has intensified as the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement approaches — pressure he blamed on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
“This is rejected in our people’s culture,” he said.
Meshaal said Hamas is willing to accept arrangements that ensure calm and prevent Israel from resuming its war, including a framework in which resistance weapons remain intact but are not publicly displayed or used unless necessary.
“We want guarantees that the Israeli occupation’s war on Gaza will not return,” he said. “This weapon can be safeguarded without being used or showcased.”
He added that Hamas has proposed a long-term truce as a “real guarantee,” and that the group accepts the idea of an international stabilization mission similar to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to separate Israeli troops from Gaza. “We have no problem with an international stability force on the borders,” Meshaal said.
On Nov. 18, the UN Security Council approved a U.S.-drafted resolution creating a temporary international force in Gaza through the end of 2027 to support efforts to end the war and maintain calm.
Meshaal said Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and other states can serve as guarantors to prevent escalation, adding that the barrier to long-term stability lies in “Israeli escalation, killing and violence,” not on the Palestinian side.
He stressed that Gaza, devastated by two years of bombardment, must now focus on recovery and reconstruction.
Rejecting demands for disarmament, Meshaal said stripping Palestinians of weapons would leave them defenseless. “Disarming the Palestinians means removing their soul,” he said, recalling massacres committed when armed groups were dismantled in the past.
Netanyahu has said he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump this month to discuss the second phase of the Gaza truce. Israel has tied further negotiations to receiving the remains of all its captives, a claim Hamas disputes.
Israel’s attacks since October 2023 have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — and injured over 171,000, while flattening much of the enclave despite a ceasefire.
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