GAZA STRIP: Hamas’ armed wing said on Sunday discussing the group’s disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire was an attempt to continue what it called a genocide against the Palestinian people.
In a televised statement, Hamas’ armed wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida said raising the issue of weapons “in a crude manner” would not be accepted.
The issue of Hamas relinquishing its weapons is a major obstacle in talks to implement US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” plan for Gaza, aimed at cementing a ceasefire that halted two years of full-scale fighting last October.
Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss disarmament without guarantees that Israel will completely quit Gaza, three sources told Reuters last week.
“What the enemy is trying to push through today against the Palestinian resistance, via our brotherly mediators, is extremely dangerous,” he said.
He said the disarmament demands were “nothing but an overt attempt to continue the genocide against our people, something we will not accept under any circumstances.”
It was not immediately clear whether the comments amounted to a formal rejection of the US-backed disarmament plan, and Hamas political officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Hamas-Israel war in Gaza erupted after Hamas-led fighters carried out cross-border attacks on southern Israel, prompting a devastating Israeli offensive that displaced much of Gaza’s population and left the enclave largely in ruins.
Since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of violating its terms.
Abu Ubaida urged mediators to pressure Israel to fulfil its commitments under the first phase of the Trump plan before any discussion of the second phase can take place.
“The enemy is the one who undermines the agreement,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on his remarks.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health authorities said, in the latest violence to overshadow a fragile ceasefire amid a new push by mediators to bolster the agreement.
Medics said the airstrike targeted a group of people in Jaffa Street, near the Darraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, killing four people and wounding others.
The Israeli military said forces in the northern Gaza Strip had struck and killed members of a Palestinian militant cell who were operating near the troops, posing an immediate threat to them.
Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire agreed last October, which halted two years of full-blown war.
