The Palestinian Islamist group „Hamas“ announced that it is ready to hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, which governs the Gaza Strip, provided that its occupation by the Israeli army ends, reported Agence France-Presse.
„Our weapons are linked to the occupation and aggression“, said in a statement the leader of the group and head of the „Hamas“ negotiating team; Khalil al-Haya.
„If the occupation ends, these weapons will be placed under the authority of the state.“ When asked about the subject by AFP, Khalil al-Haya's office clarified that he meant a sovereign and independent Palestinian country.
“We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza“, added Khalil al-Haya, thus ruling out the deployment of international forces whose mission would be to disarm the group.
Qatar and Egypt have called on Israel to withdraw its troops from the Palestinian territory and for international forces to be quickly deployed to consolidate the fragile ceasefire with “Hamas“, reported Agence France-Presse.
These measures are only part of the second phase of the Gaza peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, in which Qatar and Egypt have a mediating role, the agency added.
The first phase of the plan, with the implementation of a ceasefire in October, called for the return of all Israeli hostages held by the Islamist group “Hamas“ in Gaza, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. It also included a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, which retained control of approximately half of its territory.
“We are at a critical moment (...) We cannot yet consider that there is a ceasefire; the ceasefire can only be complete with the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and a return to stability in Gaza“, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday at a conference in Doha.
“Currently, we - Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and the United States - are meeting to move to the next phase“, he noted.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati and his Qatari counterpart “underlined the importance of continuing efforts to implement the peace agreement (...) in all its aspects stages“, the Egyptian ministry said after a meeting between the two top diplomats of Egypt and Qatar on the sidelines of the “Doha Forum“ conference.