Senior Hamas official: Resistance will not disarm, demands stronger ceasefire guarantees

Hamas firmly rejects any attempts to disarm the resistance movement, warning against foreign interference in Palestinian affairs, while demanding stronger, more detailed guarantees for the second phase of the ceasefire with Israel, a top Hamas official says.

In an interview with Yemen's al-Masirah on Tuesday, Osama Hamdan stressed that Hamas will never hand over its weapons to foreign powers, noting, “The resistance rejects the arrival of foreign forces to disarm us [and take away] the weapons that the occupation failed to take from us … The idea of surrendering weapons is an idea that the resistance does not accept.”

Hamdan also addressed the ongoing ceasefire with Israel, which the regime continues to violate, underscoring the need for clearer guarantees in its next stage.

“In the second phase of the Gaza agreement, the guarantees must be clearer and the commitments need to be more detailed,” he said, citing Israel’s repeated violations of previous accords.

“The Zionist enemy does not abide by the agreement, and even the international agreements that it concludes are subject to blatant violations,” he said

He warned that Israel’s continued siege of Gaza could signal a return to hostilities. “The failure to open the crossings is an indication on the part of Israel that the enemy intends to return to aggression against the Gaza Strip,” Hamdan said.

He said that using the blockade as a weapon will not weaken Palestinian resistance, saying using the siege as a tool of war when it comes to basic needs "increases the hostility towards the Zionist entity.”

Press TV correspondent injured by Israeli rubber bullets in West Bank live coverage

A Press TV correspondent in the occupied West Bank was injured after Israeli forces fired rubber bullets while she was reporting live from a refugee camp.

Condemning Israeli and US policies in the region, Hamdan framed them as part of a broader strategy to dominate West Asia militarily.

“The Americans want to impose hegemony on the region, with Zionist entity being the foundation of this hegemony,” he said, adding that disarming the resistance would allow Israel to wrest absolute control on the entire region.

Despite ongoing attacks against Palestinians, Hamdan expressed confidence in Palestinian resilience, stating, “The resistance is capable of continuing, and I am confident that the outcome of this conflict will be the demise of this entity."

A US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was reached on October 10, 2025. Under the first phase, Israel was mandated to open all crossings into Gaza, allowing food and aid to enter and ending hostilities in exchange for the release of all captives held by Hamas.

While Hamas has complied with the agreement, Israel has continued attacks on Gaza and kept most crossings closed, blocking vital aid.

On Tuesday, the occupying entity’s minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, said the regime has no plans to fully withdraw from Gaza and intends to establish new military and agricultural outposts in the north, a clear breach of the ceasefire.

Gaza Government’s Media Office reported on Monday that Israel has already violated the agreement at least 875 times, including 265 shootings at civilians, 49 incursions into residential areas, 421 shelling attacks, and 150 home demolitions.

Since the ceasefire began, Israeli attacks have killed at least 411 people in Gaza and injured 1,112 others.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the overall death toll in Gaza since October 2023 when Israel launched the genocidal war has risen to 70,937, with at least 171,192 people injured.

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