Top Hamas Officials: No Discussion Of Disarming Us

The issue of the weapons in the possession of Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations is central in the discussions about Phase II of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, and even in the direct talks held between Hamas and Adam Boehler, the U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs.[1]

In this context, Hamas officials are reiterating in their many statements in Arabic that the issue of disarming Hamas is not up for negotiation, and that it will continue to adhere to the path of jihad.

Moreover, Hamas is denying statements by Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk published by The New York Times on February 24, 2025. He said, when asked about Hamas's weapons, "We are ready to speak about every issue. Any issue that is put on the table, we need to speak about it." He also said that as far as he was concerned, "if it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn't have been October 7."[2]

The Hamas-affiliated journalist and commentator Ibrahim Al-Madhoun explained Hamas's refusal to disarm, noting that "signing a disarmament document is signing a declaration of surrender." Thus, he said, Hamas will never agree to it.

This report will present senior Hamas officials' recent statements on the issue of disarmament:

Senior Hamas Official Khaled Mash'al: The Path Of Jihad And Resistance Is The Way; There Is A "Plot" Against Our Weapons

At a March 9, 2025 Hamas event in Egypt honoring terrorists released from Israeli prisons and deported abroad as part of Phase I of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, senior Hamas official Khaled Mash'al said that the Palestinians would never disarm as long as they remained under Israeli occupation, and warned of a large "plot" threatening "the future of Gaza, its administration, regime, and weapons, and the resistance force in it." He added: "We say to the leaders of the [Arab] ummah and particularly to dear Egypt – which knows that without October 6 [the 1973 Yom Kippur War] it would not have regained the Sinai – [that] without October 7 [2023] we would not regain Palestine... The path of jihad and resistance is the way to regain the homeland, honor, and freedom, and to free the prisoners... The world respects only the strong."[3]

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

Senior Hamas Official Muhammad Nazzal: "The Resistance Fought With All Its Might For A Year And A Quarter, And Has Not Handed Over Its Weapons"

Similar statements were made by senior Hamas official Muhammad Nazal. He told the Qatar Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed daily on February 26: "We are willing to hand over our weapons when an independent and sovereign Palestinian state is established... The resistance has fought with all its might for a year and a quarter, and has not handed over its weapons. Is it conceivable that what the occupation has not managed [to accomplish] in its genocidal war would happen by means of diplomacy?!..."[4]

Senior Hamas Official Osama Hamdan: Hamas's Weapons Are Not Up For Negotiation

Osama Hamdan, another top Hamas official, said on February 15: "We will be the ones to determine how to manage our internal affairs... This is why issues such as the weapons of the resistance, the leaders of the resistance, and our relationship with the [countries that] support the resistance are not up for negotiation. It is not that we are clinging to an inflexible position in the talks. It's just that it is not up for discussion. We will not agree to anyone talking to us about it. I say this loud and clear..."

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

Hamas Official Suhail Al-Hindi: We Won't Hand Over Our Weapons, And We Didn't Even Receive Such An Offer

After the U.S. officially acknowledged it s direct talks with Hamas, Suhail Al-Hindi, one of the movement's officials, denied that Hamas ever received a proposal to disarm, and stressed that it would never agree to this. In an interview with the Al-Jazeera Mubasher channel, he said: "The position of Hamas and the resistance factions is that these pure weapons will remain in the hands of the resistance as long as there is an occupation. When there will be a Palestinian state, we will be a part of its military." He added: "Relinquishing the weapons while the occupation still holds our land – that will not happen. This is the final word from the resistance, [from the Hamas military wing, the Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam Brigades, and from all the resistance's [military] wings. If the occupation leaves forever, we will become a main element of the Palestinian army – we promise that. However, we will not disarm... Everyone knows the position of Hamas and the Palestinian people... We will not wave a white flag, we will not leave our country, and we will not hand over our weapons. No one proposed that we disarm. We will never agree to this, and everyone knows that."[5]

Hamas Officials On The Eve Of The Arab League Summit In Cairo: "The Weapons Of The Resistance Are A Red Line"

In advance of the Arab League summit in Cairo, on March 4, that was meant to also discuss the issue of Hamas's weapons, Hamas officials stressed that they were absolutely opposed to relinquishing their weapons and the path of terrorism and armed struggle against Israel.

Hamas leadership council chairman Muhammad Darwish said on March 1 that Hamas was willing to cooperate with any Arab initiative except one that harmed "our people's steadfast right to resist the occupation."[6] Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on the day of the summit: "The weapons of the resistance are a red line." He added that any discussion of disarming Hamas is "nonsense" and that the issue is "not up for bargaining, discussion, or negotiation."[7]

The next day, the summit's concluding statement was released. It did not directly mention the issue of Hamas's weapons, but merely called for international peacekeeping forces to be deployed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in light of the internal disputes within the Arab League.[8] Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi stressed: "The weapons of the resistance are aimed at liberating the State of Palestine, and this is the purpose of their existence." He clarified that once this goal was accomplished, the Palestinian state would be able to determine the fate of the "weapons of the resistance," and added: "We refuse in principle to allow foreign forces of any kind to enter the land of Palestine."[9]

Hamas: Statements Attributed To The Hamas Official By The New York Times About Willingness To Discuss Hamas's Weapons Are Incorrect

The above statements by Hamas officials completely contradict statements made in English by Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk as reported by The New York Times on February 24. The paper quotes Abu Marzouq as saying, when asked about Hamas's weapons: "We are ready to speak about every issue. Any issue that is put on the table, we need to speak about it."[10]

In Arabic, Hamas officially denied Abu Marzouk's comment, writing in its statement that he had said the opposite to the newspaper: "Abu Marzouk stressed the movement's steadfast position of adhering to our people's right to resistance in all its forms, first and foremost armed resistance, until liberation and the return [of the Palestinians to their homes within Israel]. He clarified that the weapons of the resistance... are aimed at defending our people and our holy places, and that they must not be abandoned or relinquished as long as our land is occupied." It added: "The media statements attributed in that interview to Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk are incorrect and were taken out of context... Dr. Abu Marzouk stressed that the blessed October 7 operation manifested our people's right to resistance and its rejection of siege, occupation, and settlements..."[11]

This is not the first time that Hamas has released "moderate" statements in English tailored to a Western audience, and denied them later in Arabic.[12] It appears that Abu Marzouk's words in English were another attempt by Hamas to mislead American and Western public opinion.

Hamas: Statements "attributed" to Abu Marzouk by The New York Times "are incorrect" and "were taken out of context" (Source: T.me/hamas_wb, February 24, 2025)

Following The New York Times' publication of Abu Marzouk's statements, other denials were published by Hamas officials. For example, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said: "Hamas zealously retains the right to its weapons of resistance as legitimate weapons. There is no argument about this as long as there is occupation of our Palestinian land. The statements attributed to Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk do not represent Hamas's position... The resistance, in all its forms, will continue to be our people's legitimate right, until the liberation and the return, and the October 7 battle will remain a milestone in the history of all the occupied peoples and a strategic turning point on the path of the national Palestinian struggle."[13]

Hamas Official: Hamas Understands That Disarmament Is A Declaration Of Surrender; We Will Not Lay Down Our Arms

In an article he posted on his Telegram account following the Arab League summit, journalist and commentator Ibrahim Al-Madhoun, a senior official in Hamas's overseas branch, clarified that Hamas was not willing to relinquish its weapons in any way, shape, or form:

"In 1994, Ukraine sat at the [negotiating] table with a document [the Budapest Memorandum] before it, at a time when it had the third [largest] nuclear arsenal in the world. It had been persuaded that security depended not on a finger pressing a button, but on signing the paper... When it returned [to the negotiating table] years later to discuss the signatures, all it found was [Russian] troops invading it, its cities pulverized [by bombing], and the promises [to respect its territorial integrity] evaporated into the air of changing interests. The U.S., that had provided it with 'guarantees'... promised to help [during the Biden administration], and then [in the Trump administration] is making a deal with it for what remains of its resources...

"Several years ago, in a different room, Taliban negotiators sat before the Americans. One [of the Americans] asked them if they would lay down their arms. One Taliban member smiled and said, 'These weapons are what brought you to this table, and without them you would not be paying any attention to us at all. How [can] we lay down [our arms]?'

"Today, the Israelis are waving the same document and demand that Hamas sign it, lay down its arms, and enter 'a new world' without resistance, without might, and without the ability to respond. They say that peace is based solely on disarmament, and that security [will be attained] only after the Palestinians are stripped of the only means they have to defend themselves.

"But history makes no mistakes when it repeats itself. When the Indians [in the U.S.] handed over their swords and bows, then came the massacres that wiped out their existence... Hamas understands this lesson well... It knows that signing the disarmament document means signing a declaration of surrender. Therefore, it says to the Israelis and to the entire world: We will not be new Indians, we will not lay down our arms to be led to slaughter. Weapons created this [military Hamas-Israel] equation, and it will be what protects us..."[14]