Razi Hamed, a senior Hamas official and member of the negotiating delegation, told Al Jazeera that the issue of disarmament is tied to Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and reconstruction. Hamed stated that Israel will not interfere in the disarmament process, which will be handled by a national committee, and that Hamas will not take any action on disarmament before Israel's exit.
The remarks by Razi Hamed, a senior Hamas official and member of the negotiating delegation, underscore the group's firm stance on disarmament. Hamed told Al Jazeera that the issue of weapons is linked to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and reconstruction, and that a national committee, not Israel, would handle the disarmament process. He explicitly stated that Hamas would not take any action on disarmament before Israel's exit.
The statement comes hours after security analyst Yair Goldblatt, in an analysis published by The Zioneer earlier tonight, described the reported disarmament deal as 'window dressing,' arguing that Hamas's ideology remains intact and that the group would likely rearm during a lull. Goldblatt's assessment was based on the same negotiation framework that Hamed now addresses.
The comments align with Hamas's longstanding position that its weapons are legitimate, as The Zioneer reported on July 7. The current negotiations, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, propose a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the storage of Hamas weapons under international oversight, with a six-to-eight-month timeline for full disarmament, as detailed in a July 30 report. Hamed's condition—that no disarmament actions begin before Israeli withdrawal—appears to challenge the proposed parallel progress of withdrawal and disarmament.
- DevelopingGaza 'Board of Peace' advances initiatives without awaiting Hamas response on disarmament
- StrongMladenov: Gaza reconstruction, IDF withdrawal hinge on Hamas disarmament
- StrongPeace Council officials: Hamas trying to evade governing responsibility, no reconstruction without disarmament
- StrongAmerican sources: Hamas disarmament plan to proceed in coming weeks
Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
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