A senior Hamas official told Al Manassa that the ceasefire agreement signed with Israel last week does not include any provision requiring the disarmament of the resistance. He emphasized that the movement has not submitted any response to mediators from Egypt, Qatar, or the United States indicating a willingness to relinquish its weapons.
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s remarks stressing the need for Hamas to disarm, the Hamas leader noted that “nothing is settled in the second phase of the negotiations.”
Last Thursday, Trump announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire framework. The initial phase involves the exchange of detainees, while the second phase will include negotiations over Gaza’s governance structure.
Speaking from the White House on Tuesday following a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei, Trump declared that he had told Hamas to “lay down their arms immediately.” He added, “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them…that will happen quickly, and perhaps violently.”
The delegation did not insist, another Hamas source told Al Manassa, on tying any part of the negotiations to retrieving the bodies of former Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar and his brother Mohammed. Mohammed Sinwar had assumed field command after the killing of military chief Mohammed Deif.
The Sinwar family originates from the city of Asqalan, now inside Israel, the source explained. “Burying them in the occupied territories would symbolize the unity of Palestinian land—from the river to the sea.”
He added that, had either of them survived, “they would have requested to be buried there.”
The issue of Palestinian detainees’ remains—held by Israel since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, 2023—was raised during the latest rounds of negotiation. According to the official, an understanding was reached that “The bodies of civilians will be released unconditionally.”
The official also disclosed that Hamas has asked Egyptian and Qatari mediators to establish a joint forensic medical committee to verify the identity of bodies Israel hands over. This includes civilians as well as elite fighters killed since the October operation.
“The goal,” he said, “is to prevent any deception by Israel and to determine whether the missing are alive or martyred.”
