Eurasia Press & News
Hamas officials are sending mixed messages over disarmament. On December 7, a day after Hamas leader Khaled Mashal rejected aspects of President Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza, including disarmament, senior official Bassem Naim said Hamas is open to discussions over its weapons. Separately, Hamas’s Taher al-Nunu vaguely suggested on December 8 that Hamas’s arms would belong to a future Palestinian state. Though the men do not hold executive decision-making power regarding compliance with Trump’s plan, all three sit on Hamas’s politburo, its major decision-making body.
On the surface, Naim’s and al-Nunu’s messages seem like moderate shifts toward disarmament in comparison to Mashal’s staunch rejection. However, the contrasting statements may constitute an effort to keep Washington at the negotiating table by holding out false hope of disarmament, thereby giving Hamas more time to recover from its battering during the war.
Mashal Staunchly Against Disarmament, ISF deployment in Gaza
In an address in Istanbul, Mashal stated that the Palestinian people need “protection, not guardians,” an apparent critique of the Trump plan’s mandate for an International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza. Mashal asserted that “protecting … the resistance’s [Hamas’s] weapons is our people’s right to self-defense,” reaffirming the group’s continued opposition to coerced or voluntary disarmament.
Mashal said that rights for the Palestinian people stem not from the United Nations Security Council, but from Hamas’s “recruitment office.” His comments recalled Hamas’s rejection of a resolution passed by the Security Council on November 17 endorsing Trump’s plan, including the formation of the ISF.
Naim, al-Nunu Float Disarmament, Long-Term Truce
Conversely, Naim told the Associated Pressthat Hamas was open to discussing “freezing or storing” its weapons, while proposing a truce of five to 10 years with Israel. “We can talk about freezing or storing or laying down, with the Palestinian guarantees not to use [weapons] at all during this ceasefire time,” he stated.
Like Mashal, Naim expressed Hamas’s opposition to the ISF mandated by Trump’s plan, which states that the force “will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza.” Naim said that Hamas does not “accept that these forces have any kind of mandates authorizing them to do or to be implemented inside the Palestinian territories.”
Separately, al-Nunu reiterated Hamas’s rejection of any ISF-led disarmament of the group, while suggesting that Hamas views its weapons as belonging to a future Palestinian state, indicating only a temporary relinquishment of weapons.
A New Status Quo for Gaza
Hamas has lost leverage in negotiations, retaining the remains of only one of the 251 hostages abducted on October 7, 2023. But the Israeli public has little eagerness to resume sustained fighting after the longest war in Israel’s history, and renewed offensive operations to finish off Hamas in its entirety seem unlikely.
The IDF sits comfortably on its initial withdrawal line, labeled the “Yellow Line,” controlling some 53 percent of Gaza. The military has also continued to eliminate threats from Palestinian terrorists with surgical strikes. On December 7, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir referred to the Yellow Line as “a new border line,” reflecting Israel’s view of it as the new status quo. Israeli forces have already entrenched themselves along the line, strengthening positions with barbed wire, gullies, and large sand berms.
U.S. Should Stand Firm on Disarmament
Hamas’s disarmament is paramount to the success of the ceasefire. But the Trump plan’s proposed demilitarization of Gaza is unlikely to occur with the group’s cooperation. While Hamas officials stall, attempting to manipulate the West in a bid for reconstitution, the Trump administration should support any IDF effort to further strengthen its defensive positions along the Yellow Line. Washington’s Civil Military Coordination Center, which monitors the ceasefire, should also document Hamas’s efforts to rearm, treat attempts as truce violations, and back any IDF military action against Hamas targets in response.
