Hamas has clarified its stance on disarmament, stating it will hand over weapons to a future Palestinian authority only if the Israeli occupation ends.

The announcement underscores the group’s conditional approach to peace and security in the Gaza Strip.

Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas in Gaza, outlined the group’s conditions for relinquishing arms. According to al-Hayya, Hamas will only surrender its weapons when Israel’s occupation ceases.

“The existence of our weapons is linked to the existence of the occupiers,” al-Hayya said. “If this situation ends, we will hand over our weapons to the Palestinian state.”

Weapons would be handed to PA

Al-Hayya emphasized that any transfer of arms would be to a government operating under the sovereignty of the State of Palestine, which would administer Gaza in the future. His office confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the term “government” referred specifically to a sovereign Palestinian state.

Hamas noted that the matter of weapons is still being discussed with other Palestinian factions and mediators. The group highlighted that it supports the deployment of international forces in Gaza only as border monitors to oversee ceasefire compliance, rather than a force tasked with disarming the Strip.

Al-Hayya reaffirmed Hamas’s position regarding international forces, stating, “We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza.” This reflects the group’s rejection of any foreign mission that would seek to remove its weapons.