Hamas terms disarmament as ‘red line’ amid Gaza truce impasse
Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said Tuesday that disarming is a red line for his movement and other Palestinian resistance groups engaged in negotiations to extend the Gaza cease-fire.
“Any talk about the resistance’s weapons is nonsense. The resistance’s weapons are a red line for Hamas and all resistance factions,” Abu Zuhri said shortly after Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar demanded the “full demilitarization” of Gaza to proceed to the second stage of the January truce.
Speaking at a news conference in the occupied al-Quds, Saar said Israel’s conditions for proceeding to stage two of the cease-fire are Gaza’s full demilitarization and the return of captives.
“We don’t have an agreement on phase two,” said Saar. “We demand total demilitarization of Gaza – Hamas and Islamic Jihad – and give us our hostages. If they agree to that we can implement tomorrow.”
Hamas also urged Arab leaders Tuesday to “thwart” the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza as they meet in Cairo to counter US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned proposal.
“We look forward to an effective Arab role that ends the humanitarian tragedy created by the occupation in the Gaza Strip... and thwarts the (Israeli) occupation’s plans to displace (Palestinians),” a statement by the group said.
Arab leaders gathered in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss an alternative to Trump’s proposal for a US takeover of the war-battered territory and the relocation of its inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan.
The meeting came amid deadlock between Hamas and Israel over next steps in a fragile January 19 cease-fire in Gaza.
After the first phase of the truce ended over the weekend without agreement on how to continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced a halt to “all entry of goods and supplies” into the territory.
Israel’s “closure of the Gaza Strip crossings for the third consecutive day, and its prevention of the entry of aid and goods, represents a Zionist insistence on violating the cease-fire agreement, and a clear war crime,” Hamas said in its statement.