Hamas: No removal of weapons without a Palestinian state

The Islamist Hamas in the contested Gaza Strip decides decide to remove its weapons as long as there is no independent Palestinian state. The armed resistance can only be abandoned if the rights of the Palestinians were completely realized, in particular the establishment of an independent and completely sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital, according to a statement by the terrorist organization.

The Hamas reacted to statements by the US specialist Steve Witkoff, who, according to media reports, said at a meeting with relatives of the hostages that were still captured in the Gaza Strip that the Hamas was according to demilitarization. “We are about to the end of this war,” said Witkoff, according to a message from the forum of the hostage families at the meeting in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. “We have a plan to end the war and bring everyone home.”

According to the US news page “Axios” and Israeli media, the US government wants to change its GAZA policy. Instead of negotiating only a ceasefire and the gradual release of the hostages, US President Donald Trump is now striving for a comprehensive deal that ends the war and brings all the remaining hostages back at once. Witkoff also told the hostage families at their meeting in Tel Aviv.

“No comprehensive deals. That doesn’t work,” the US Sonderer envoy was quoted. His statements are an admission that the months of efforts to bring about an ceasefire through indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas and to bring about the release of the hostages have failed, wrote “Axios”. In a mass demonstration in Israel, the participants called for a deal to release all hostages.

In a previously released propaganda video of Hamas, the 24-year-old Evjatar David, which was emaciated to the bones, can be seen in a narrow tunnel in Gaza how he shovels his “own grave”. “End this nightmare, which has been going on for 666 days. Sign a comprehensive agreement that brings all 50 hostages back and ends the fights,” said the forum of the hostages. At least 20 of the hostages should still be alive. The forum spoke of 60,000 participants at the protest rally. According to local media reports, it has been one of the largest of the past few weeks.

At one point in the Hamas propaganda video, Evjar David said to Israel’s head of government Benjamin Netanyahu: “I have been completely left by you, my premier, by you, who would have to take care of me and all the other prisoners.” Netanyahu met in the evening with the families of David and another hostage. “While the state of Israel allows humanitarian aid for the residents of the Gaza Strip, the terrorists of Hamas deliberately let our hostages go hungry and document them in cynical and malignant ways,” Netanyahu was quoted.

Israel and the United States agree that, given the attitude of Hamas, it is necessary to overcome a framework for the release of all hostages, the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, “Axios” cited an Israeli civil servant. However, there is no final decision. A proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in return for the release of ten living hostages is still on the table. Meanwhile, Israel’s air defense caught a rocket fired from the southern Gaza on the night of military. The warning sirens had previously cried.

Several Arab states, including Egypt and Qatar, who convey the indirect discussions between the warring parties, recently called for an end to Hamas rule in the coastal area at a UN conference in New York. “As part of the end of the war in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has to end its rule in the Gaza Strip and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority with international commitment and support,” says a document.

Witkoff seemed to refer to this at his meeting in Tel Aviv with relatives of the hostages, it was said in Israeli media reports. He is also said to have said that Hamas is ready to demilitarize. In its statement, however, the terrorist organization pointed out that the possession of weapons and resistance was the legitimate right of an occupied people.

Hamas claims the entire historical Palestine – including today’s territory of Israel. In a basic paper from 2017, however, the group accepts a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967-i.e. consisting of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Israel’s government is also against a two -state solution. There is the opinion that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are due to historical and religious reasons. Federal Secretary of Foreign Johann WadePhul (CDU) had warned Israel on Friday with clear words of an annexation of the West Bank. After a conversation with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, he emphasized: “We support the right of the Palestinians on their own state at the end of a political process.”

On October 7, 2023, terrorists of Hamas and other Islamist organizations had delayed more than 250 people from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Around 1,200 people were killed. The unprecedented massacre and the hostage frames triggered the Gaza War. Since then, according to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 60,000 people have been killed in the sealed coastal area. The number of non -verifiable number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.