In a significant policy shift revealed during an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal firmly rejected the complete disarmament demanded by the US-sponsored Gaza ceasefire framework, describing it as an existential red line that would amount to “stripping away the soul of the Palestinian.” Instead, he confirmed that Hamas is actively proposing a comprehensive weapons “freeze” or supervised storage arrangement that would effectively neutralise any military threat from Gaza while preserving the group’s arsenal.

Meshaal elaborated that this freeze would serve as an ironclad guarantee against future escalation, offering international mediators and the United States a practical alternative to total disarmament. He expressed cautious optimism that the incoming Trump administration, with its emphasis on pragmatic deal-making, could embrace this formula, potentially breaking the deadlock that has stalled progress toward a permanent truce.

The declaration comes at a pivotal moment as the three-phase ceasefire agreement, implemented since October 10 following the devastating war triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, approaches the sensitive second phase. This stage envisions further Israeli military withdrawal, the entry of an international stabilisation force, and the controversial requirement for Hamas to surrender its weapons—conditions the group now openly challenges.

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Regarding the proposed international force, Meshaal clarified that Hamas fully supports deployment along the Gaza-Israel border, comparing it favourably to the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon, which acts as a buffer between conflicting parties. However, he categorically rejected any internal deployment within Gaza itself, warning that such a presence would be perceived by Palestinians as a new form of occupation and therefore politically impossible to accept.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in the United States later this month, mediators from Qatar and Egypt face mounting pressure to reconcile these conflicting positions. Hamas insists that Arab and Islamic nations, rather than Western-led forces inside Gaza, should serve as guarantors of non-escalation, setting the stage for what could be the most crucial diplomatic confrontation since the ceasefire took effect.

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