Hamas: We never agreed to hand over our weapons

Senior Hamas official publicly denies the group ever discussed disarmament, mocks Israel’s prime minister for declaring victory following the return of the last Gaza hostage.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Hamas official this week denied that the terror group ever made a commitment to the United States to disarm, claiming Hamas never even discussed the issue.

Speaking with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Mousa Abu Marzouk said that Hamas “never agreed to hand over” its weapons, flatly contradicting claims made by multiple American officials in recent months, including President Donald Trump.

“We have not [even] discussed the weapons yet, no one has spoken to us directly about it. We haven’t spoken with the American side or the mediators on this issue, so we can’t talk about what it means or what the goal is.”

Abu Marzouk claimed that in signing the October deal which secured the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Hamas only agreed “to a framework plan to end the war.”

“The issue of handing over our weapons was not discussed at all.”

When pressed about claims that Hamas committed to disarm as part of phase two of the Trump administration’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, Abu Marzouk said definitively that no agreement had ever been reached.

“It never happened; not for a single moment did we talk about the surrender of weapons, or any formula about destroying, surrendering, or disarmament.”

The Hamas leader also mocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims this week that Israel had achieved one of its war goals by securing the return of the body of the last Gaza hostage.

“Netanyahu cannot boast about the return of Israeli prisoners, because they were all returned under an agreement and on Hamas’s terms,” Abu Marzouk said.

A month ago, Trump warned that Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it fails to disarm, telling reporters that the terror group “agreed to it” when it signed on to the October truce deal.

A US official echoed Trump’s comments on Monday, telling reporters that Hamas “signed an agreement – they don’t have a choice.”

“If they decide to play games, then obviously President Trump will take other actions.”

HamasMousa Abu MarzoukMousa Abu Marzouq