Hamas says will surrender arms to 'Palestinian state' only if Israeli occupation ends

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has said that it will surrender its weapons to a “Palestinian state” only if Israel’s occupation fully ends, stressing that disarmament cannot occur under ongoing military and political oppression.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior figure in the Hamas politburo and the movement’s chief negotiator, said on Saturday that “our weapon is linked to the presence of the occupation and aggression, and if the occupation ends, this weapon will be handed over to the state.”

His office later clarified that “state” refers to an independent and sovereign “Palestinian state.”

“Weapons are still under discussion with the factions and mediators, and the agreement is still in its early stages,” he added.

Al-Hayya said Hamas accepts the deployment of UN forces as a separation mission between the movement and the Israeli regime’s military, responsible for supervising borders and ensuring adherence to a ceasefire.

However, he emphasized that Hamas rejects any international mission inside Gaza aimed at forcibly disarming the resistance.

The movement has consistently stated that a two-state arrangement remains only an interim step, and that Palestinians maintain their “historic right to all Palestinian lands.”

Palestinian woman and son killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, bringing day’s death toll to eight

The Israeli military has killed a Palestinian woman and her son in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood in southeastern Gaza City, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed in the besieged enclave since Saturday morning to eight.

Commenting on conditions in Gaza during the ceasefire, al-Hayya said Israel “obstructs the entry of materials into Gaza as if we are still in the midst of war.”

“We are not satisfied with the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip and call on mediators to intervene,” he said.

Despite the agreement, Israel continues to violate the ceasefire by limiting the delivery of essential supplies and by carrying out repeated attacks across Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Sunday that since the ceasefire took effect, the Israeli regime has killed at least 367 Palestinians and wounded 953 others.

The Gaza ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect on October 10. In exchange for the return of all Israeli captives, whether dead or alive, the Israeli regime agreed to release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 abductees from Gaza who had been seized since October 7, 2023.

The regime also pledged to halt its military assault and reopen all crossings into Gaza, enabling unrestricted access to food and the movement of civilians from the besieged territory.

However, it has continued to block vital humanitarian aid.

The Israeli military also violated the ceasefire agreement at least 591 times from October 10 to December 2, through the continuation of attacks by air, artillery, and direct shootings, the Government Media Office in Gaza reports.

The second phase of the ceasefire, put forward by US President Donald Trump, includes the disarmament of Gaza’s resistance groups, the deployment of an international military force, and the creation of a foreign administrative authority to oversee daily governance, conditions that the resistance has unequivocally rejected as attempts by Washington and Tel Aviv to impose external control over Gaza’s future.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal aggression on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 70,354 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, while more than 171,030 have been injured. Many victims remain under the rubble as rescue crews are unable to reach them.

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