Hamas will keep arms until Palestinian state formed: Official
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hamas’ weapons “are not up for negotiation” and will not be relinquished until a Palestinian state is established, a senior official from the movement said on Saturday, a day after a ceasefire with Israel came into effect.
“Our weapons are not up for negotiation. No one can take them from us unless the State of Palestine is established. Then these weapons would belong to the Palestinian army,” senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum told Rudaw on the sidelines of a meeting of Islamic scholars in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect at noon on Friday, three days after the second anniversary of the war in Gaza. The truce is part of a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump to halt hostilities and facilitate an exchange of hostages and prisoners. Under the plan, 200 US troops will deploy to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire, alongside a multinational task force likely to include soldiers from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump’s peace deal also outlines the demilitarization of the Palestinian enclave and excludes Hamas from any future political role in Gaza.
Barhoum said that after two years of brutal war Hamas has not been defeated.
“The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip aimed to uproot Hamas, destroy the resistance, and eradicate the Hamas movement, but they did not succeed,” he said.
“The goal was to displace all residents of the Gaza Strip, then Gaza would become subordinate to Trump, who would make it a Riviera as an economic hub. This is how Netanyahu, Biden, and Trump planned, but they did not succeed,” he added.
He claimed the ceasefire forced Israel and the United States “to sit humiliated before Hamas” and reach an agreement that includes a comprehensive deal for prisoner exchange, reconstruction, and an end to hostilities.
“This is considered a real achievement for the resistance and the steadfastness of our people in Gaza,” he said.
Barhoum said that Hamas remains prepared to defend itself if the truce collapses.
“If the enemy returns to aggression again, we have no choice but to fight,” he said, urging mediators including the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to ensure Israel adheres to the agreement.
Nearly 80 percent of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict, according to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
Barhoum said Hamas welcomes international efforts to rebuild the devastated enclave. “The important thing is that the Gaza Strip be reconstructed - this is our goal and what we aspire to,” he said, adding that the movement “has a role in managing Gaza and reconstructing Gaza” even if it has stepped back from direct governance.
“If Hamas today has relinquished its role in managing the Gaza Strip, it remains through its jihadist, resistant, struggling, and revolutionary project in the heart of all the Palestinian people and indeed in the heart of the entire nation,” he added.
Barhoum called on Kurds to stand with the Palestinian cause, invoking the legacy of Salahaddin al-Ayyubi, the 12th-century Kurdish military leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders. “The Kurds, as part of the Islamic nation, their compass must also be Palestine and the liberation of Palestine. Salahaddin was Kurdish and liberated Jerusalem,” he said.
“We see the Kurds as capable of supporting Palestine and supporting Gaza,” he added.
The Kurdistan Region has sent several batches of aid to Gaza during the war. In mid-September, the Kurdistan Region Presidency reaffirmed Erbil’s support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of their own state. The Erbil-based Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) has sent several shipments of humanitarian aid, including 14 tons of medicine, 2,500 food parcels, and 400 boxes of clothes. BCF President Musa Ahmad said the foundation coordinated with Palestinian officials and partner organizations to deliver the assistance. In April, Haji Karwan, head of the Erbil-based Bextewery Organization, told Rudaw that his group had sent $5 million in aid to Gaza since the start of the war.
Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, after winning legislative elections the previous year and expelling its rival Fatah movement.
The 2023 conflict, the deadliest in Gaza’s history, began on October 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Of those, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 who the Israeli military believes are dead.
Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed over 67,000 Palestinians and injured about 170,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Famine has spread across the enclave, and a United Nations commission has accused Israel of committing genocide.
Shortly after the ceasefire began, thousands of Palestinians were seen returning to northern Gaza, seizing the brief calm to go home or seek safer ground.
“Our weapons are not up for negotiation. No one can take them from us unless the State of Palestine is established. Then these weapons would belong to the Palestinian army,” senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum told Rudaw on the sidelines of a meeting of Islamic scholars in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect at noon on Friday, three days after the second anniversary of the war in Gaza. The truce is part of a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump to halt hostilities and facilitate an exchange of hostages and prisoners. Under the plan, 200 US troops will deploy to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire, alongside a multinational task force likely to include soldiers from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump’s peace deal also outlines the demilitarization of the Palestinian enclave and excludes Hamas from any future political role in Gaza.
Barhoum said that after two years of brutal war Hamas has not been defeated.
“The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip aimed to uproot Hamas, destroy the resistance, and eradicate the Hamas movement, but they did not succeed,” he said.
“The goal was to displace all residents of the Gaza Strip, then Gaza would become subordinate to Trump, who would make it a Riviera as an economic hub. This is how Netanyahu, Biden, and Trump planned, but they did not succeed,” he added.
He claimed the ceasefire forced Israel and the United States “to sit humiliated before Hamas” and reach an agreement that includes a comprehensive deal for prisoner exchange, reconstruction, and an end to hostilities.
“This is considered a real achievement for the resistance and the steadfastness of our people in Gaza,” he said.
Barhoum said that Hamas remains prepared to defend itself if the truce collapses.
“If the enemy returns to aggression again, we have no choice but to fight,” he said, urging mediators including the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to ensure Israel adheres to the agreement.
Nearly 80 percent of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict, according to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
Barhoum said Hamas welcomes international efforts to rebuild the devastated enclave. “The important thing is that the Gaza Strip be reconstructed - this is our goal and what we aspire to,” he said, adding that the movement “has a role in managing Gaza and reconstructing Gaza” even if it has stepped back from direct governance.
“If Hamas today has relinquished its role in managing the Gaza Strip, it remains through its jihadist, resistant, struggling, and revolutionary project in the heart of all the Palestinian people and indeed in the heart of the entire nation,” he added.
Barhoum called on Kurds to stand with the Palestinian cause, invoking the legacy of Salahaddin al-Ayyubi, the 12th-century Kurdish military leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders. “The Kurds, as part of the Islamic nation, their compass must also be Palestine and the liberation of Palestine. Salahaddin was Kurdish and liberated Jerusalem,” he said.
“We see the Kurds as capable of supporting Palestine and supporting Gaza,” he added.
The Kurdistan Region has sent several batches of aid to Gaza during the war. In mid-September, the Kurdistan Region Presidency reaffirmed Erbil’s support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of their own state. The Erbil-based Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) has sent several shipments of humanitarian aid, including 14 tons of medicine, 2,500 food parcels, and 400 boxes of clothes. BCF President Musa Ahmad said the foundation coordinated with Palestinian officials and partner organizations to deliver the assistance. In April, Haji Karwan, head of the Erbil-based Bextewery Organization, told Rudaw that his group had sent $5 million in aid to Gaza since the start of the war.
Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, after winning legislative elections the previous year and expelling its rival Fatah movement.
The 2023 conflict, the deadliest in Gaza’s history, began on October 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Of those, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 who the Israeli military believes are dead.
Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed over 67,000 Palestinians and injured about 170,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Famine has spread across the enclave, and a United Nations commission has accused Israel of committing genocide.
Shortly after the ceasefire began, thousands of Palestinians were seen returning to northern Gaza, seizing the brief calm to go home or seek safer ground.