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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22832/hamas-disarmament
Hamas Has No Intention of Disarming - So Why Is the U.S. Still Negotiating?
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Hamas has no intention of surrendering its weapons, abandoning its armed "resistance" against Israel, or relinquishing control over Gaza. Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Nov. 10, 2025, "No one said that we will hand over our weapons." Instead, Hamdan said, the agreed framework calls for the "containment and storage" of Hamas's heavy weapons by the Palestinian Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Palestinian "resistance factions." Khaled Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Iran, told the Islamic Republic News Agency on Aug. 29, 2026, that Hamas regards weapons as essential to its struggle against Israel. He rejected the idea that the question of weapons should even be discussed before Israel's military presence in Gaza ends. Hamas wants the international community to recognize its political claims while treating its military arsenal as an internal Palestinian issue. Hamas cannot insist on retaining the weapons that it has used - and clearly plans to use again - to attack Israel. The victims of Hamas's weapons have a say in the matter too. Hamas's laying down its weapons and relinquishing its political and military control over Gaza must be unconditional. Hamas is a terrorist organization that launched the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre. It is not a sovereign state entitled to negotiate the terms of its own disarmament. Was ISIS ever asked to "store" its weapons? Terrorist organizations are supposed to be disarmed. Their weapons are supposed to be confiscated and destroyed. There is no legitimate reason for Hamas or any other Palestinian terrorist faction to possess weapons. Palestinians do not need rockets, explosive drones and anti-tank missiles to build a better future. Hamas, like its benefactors in Iran, may well believe that its best strategy is to drag out negotiations for as long as possible, at least until Trump is no longer president and someone more accommodating might take his place. Hamas is telling the world exactly what it intends to do: keep its weapons. So why is Washington still negotiating the terms? There is only one viable solution for Gaza: Hamas must be eliminated as a political and military entity. Its weapons must be confiscated or destroyed, not "stored," "contained," or hidden. Until that happens, Hamas remains armed and the threat of another Oct. 7 massacre - or more - remains in the works.