Hamas' armed wing said that discussing the group's disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza is “an attempt to continue the genocide against the Palestinian people“, Reuters reported, quoted by News.bg.
In a televised statement, the spokesman for the organization's armed wing, Abu Ubaida, stressed that raising the issue of weapons “in a harsh manner“ was unacceptable.
The issue of disarmament remains one of the main obstacles in the negotiations to implement Donald Trump's proposed “Council for Peace“ plan for Gaza, which aims to consolidate the ceasefire that ended nearly two years of large-scale fighting last October.
It is not yet clear whether the statement constitutes an official withdrawal of support for the plan, as Hamas' political leadership did not respond to requests for comment.
The conflict between Hamas and Israel escalated after cross-border attacks on southern Israel by the group's fighters, which led to a large-scale Israeli military operation. As a result, a large part of the population of Gaza was displaced, and the enclave's infrastructure was severely damaged.
Since the ceasefire came into effect, the two sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating it.
Abu Ubayda called on international mediators to put pressure on Israel to fulfill its commitments under the first phase of the agreement before starting talks on the next stage.
“The enemy is the one who is obstructing the agreement,“ he said.
There has been no official comment from the Israeli side on these allegations so far.