Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official and member of the terror organization’s negotiating team, said Hamas won’t take any steps toward disarmament before Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip.
1+“We won’t take any step regarding disarmament before Israel withdraws from the Strip,” he said. The statement comes against the backdrop of the American framework for “the day after” in Gaza, which includes a gradual dismantling of Hamas’s military capabilities, the establishment of a new governing mechanism in the Strip, and an international stabilization force.
Despite Hamad’s remarks, the United States insists that a plan to disarm Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza will launch in the coming weeks. American officials emphasized this will be a conditional process, carried out in stages and according to progress on the ground.
1+U.S. officials also stressed there’s close coordination with Israel on the framework and its implementation mechanisms. According to the officials, disarmament won’t be based on trust between the parties, but on clear conditions, monitoring, and verification of each stage in the process.
Hamad’s statement illustrates one of the central challenges facing implementation of the plan: the gap between Hamas’s demand for an early Israeli withdrawal and the American position that disarmament is an inseparable part of the overall framework for the Strip’s future.