A prominent leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas has proposed freezing the movement’s weapons in exchange for a lasting truce in Gaza, according to an interview given to a Qatari media outlet on Wednesday.
Khaled Meshaal, former head of the movement, told Al Jazeera that Hamas rejects “total disarmament,” which he deemed “unacceptable.” However, he indicated that the movement is open to the idea of “freezing or stockpiling” its weapons to “guarantee that there will be no military escalation from Gaza with the occupation.”
Meshaal expressed optimism that this approach could be accepted by the American administration if it adopted a “pragmatic” stance.
Hamas also expressed openness to the presence of an international peacekeeping force along the border between the Palestinian territory and Israel. Crucially, Meshaal stated that Hamas refuses to allow this force to operate inside Palestinian territory, arguing that internal deployment would “amount to an occupation.”
The Hamas proposal contrasts with the conditions set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has previously warned that the war in the Gaza Strip would only end definitively with the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Palestinian territory, which is outlined in the second phase of a Washington-brokered ceasefire agreement.
The second phase of the proposed agreement involves the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the rapid deployment of an international stabilization force, concurrent with Hamas laying down its arms. Netanyahu recently announced hopes that this phase would be implemented “very soon.”
AK/ac/Sf/fss/abj/APA