Overview
- Gaza leader Khalil al-Hayya said Hamas would hand over weapons only after an end to Israeli occupation, with arms placed under the authority of a Palestinian state.
- Hamas stated it would accept UN troops to monitor a ceasefire and guard borders, effectively rejecting an international force tasked with disarming the group.
- The stance intersects with the US peace plan’s demand for Hamas disarmament, as mediators Qatar and Egypt press for a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
- The declaration marks a shift from Hamas’s previous refusal to surrender its arsenal.
- The war followed the October 7, 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel with more than 250 abducted, while Palestinian authorities report over 70,000 deaths in Gaza that cannot be independently verified.