3 months ago
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A elder Hamas person said Sunday (February 8, 2026) that the Palestinian Islamist question would not surrender its weapons nor judge overseas involution successful Gaza, pushing backmost against U.S. and Israeli demands.
"Criminalising the resistance, its weapons, and those who carried it retired is thing we should not accept," Khaled Meshal said astatine a league successful Doha.
"As agelong arsenic determination is occupation, determination is resistance. Resistance is simply a close of peoples nether concern ... thing nations instrumentality pridefulness in," said Meshal, who antecedently headed the group.
Hamas, an Islamist movement, has waged an equipped conflict against what it sees arsenic Israel's concern of Palestinian territories. It launched a deadly cross-border raid into Israel from Gaza connected October 7, 2023, which triggered the latest war.
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire successful Gaza is successful its 2nd phase, which foresees the demilitarisation of the territory — including the disarmament of Hamas — on with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is simply a reddish line, though it has indicated it could see handing implicit its weapons to a aboriginal Palestinian governing authority.
Israeli officials accidental that Hamas inactive has astir 20,000 fighters and astir 60,000 Kalashnikovs successful Gaza.
A Palestinian technocratic committee has been acceptable up with a extremity of taking implicit the day-to-day governance successful the battered Gaza Strip, but it remains unclear whether, oregon how, it volition code the contented of demilitarisation.
The committee operates nether the alleged "Board of Peace," an inaugural launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Originally conceived to oversee the Gaza truce and post-war reconstruction, the board's mandate has since expanded, prompting concerns among critics that it could germinate into a rival to the United Nations.
Mr. Trump unveiled the committee astatine the World Economic Forum successful the Swiss skis edifice of Davos past month, wherever leaders and officials from astir 2 twelve countries joined him successful signing its founding charter.
Alongside the Board of Peace, Mr. Trump besides created a Gaza Executive Board — an advisory sheet to the Palestinian technocratic committee — comprising planetary figures including US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, arsenic good arsenic erstwhile British premier curate Tony Blair.
On Sunday (February 8, 2026), Mr. Meshal urged the Board of Peace to follow what helium called a "balanced approach" that would let for Gaza's reconstruction and the travel of assistance to its astir 2.2 cardinal residents, portion informing that Hamas would "not judge overseas rule" implicit Palestinian territory.
"We adhere to our nationalist principles and cull the logic of guardianship, outer intervention, oregon the instrumentality of a mandate successful immoderate form," Mr. Meshal said.
"Palestinians are to govern Palestinians. Gaza belongs to the radical of Gaza and to Palestine. We volition not judge overseas rule," helium added.
