A senior leader in Hamas’s political bureau said the group has not formally received any deadline to disarm, and that mediators in Egypt and Qatar refused to pass along an Israeli warning that military operations in Gaza would resume if Hamas did not disarm within 60 days.
Speaking to Al Manassa, the Hamas official stressed the group rejects the idea of disarmament outright, in all forms.
The official, who asked not to be named, said recent consultations between mediators and Israel included the floating of ideas about setting a time limit for disarming. But he said the mediators told Israel that they would not convey the proposal to Hamas, insisting any discussion of weapons “must be by consensus, and after discussing what the mediators themselves put forward.”
He said a Hamas delegation that visited Cairo earlier this week told mediators it was ready to engage with any political approaches that preserve its “red lines,” foremost the right to resist and to retain weapons, as long as Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land continues.
The movement has made significant progress in talks with mediators on an approach that would take weapons out of service, suspend their use, or place them in storage, under a long-term ceasefire agreement, the source said.
In return, he said, the deal would have to include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the start of reconstruction, after Hamas hands administration over to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) headed by Ali Shaath.
He added Hamas has already made the necessary preparations to transfer Gaza’s administration to NCAG, but said the main obstacle is Israel’s refusal to allow committee members into the Strip to take up their duties, despite mediator pressure on the US to press the Israeli government to do so.
An NCAG member, meanwhile, said no date has been set—whether by mediators or officials of the international Board of Peace’s executive council—for the committee to enter Gaza and formally assume administration from Hamas.
The committee member, who also asked not to be named, said, “What we’ve learned is that matters on the Palestinian side are going well, and we were told Hamas is ready to sit with the committee and reach agreement on the handover process.”
Israel’s government had announced it would give Hamas 60 days to complete full disarmament, including individual weapons, as a condition for avoiding a broad resumption of military operations.
Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said the move came at the request of US President Donald Trump’s administration, adding the deadline could begin after a meeting of the Board of Peace expected in Washington on Thursday.
Fuchs said failure to meet the demands would return “the initiative” to the Israeli army to continue operations and destroy what remains of infrastructure and tunnels, ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for the second half of this year.
In the same context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked Gaza reconstruction to meeting the disarmament demands, casting it as part of the second phase of Trump’s “peace” plan for Gaza.
