Overview
- Hamas’s armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida, in a televised address Sunday, said talks on giving up weapons cannot start before Israel completes the deal’s first phase.
- He called the disarmament demand an attempt to continue genocide against Palestinians and urged mediators to press Israel to meet its commitments.
- Reporters noted it was not clear whether this was a formal rejection of the U.S.-backed framework, and neither Hamas political leaders nor Israel offered immediate comment.
- Disarmament remains the main sticking point in President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace plan, which seeks to lock in the ceasefire that began last October.
- Three sources told Reuters that Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss disarmament without guarantees of a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, against a backdrop of a war that left the enclave in ruins and ongoing claims of ceasefire breaches.