"Hamas will retain its weapons to prevent renewed Israeli war"

Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said the movement will keep its weapons under a framework that includes a long-term truce and the deployment of an international stability force along Gaza's border to prevent a new Israeli war, rejecting calls for disarmament as "unacceptable" to Palestinians.

In a Tuesday interview with Al Jazeera TV channel, Meshaal said the approach of a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal has intensified pressure aimed at forcing the group to relinquish its weapons-a demand he attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others.

"This is rejected in our people's culture," he said.

Meshaal said Hamas is prepared to accept arrangements that ensure calm and prevent Israel from resuming its war on Gaza, including a scenario in which resistance weapons are preserved but not displayed or used.

"We want guarantees that the Israeli occupation's war on Gaza will not return," he said. "This weapon can be safeguarded without being used or showcased."

He said Hamas has proposed a long-term truce that would serve as a "real guarantee," and that the movement has no objection to deploying an international stabilization force similar to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to separate Gaza from Israeli forces. "We have no problem with an international stability force on the borders," he added.

The UN Security Council on Nov. 18 adopted a US-drafted resolution authorizing the creation of a temporary international force in Gaza through the end of 2027 to support efforts to end the war and maintain stability.

Qatar, Egypt, Türkiye and other states can act as guarantors to ensure Gaza and the resistance refrain from military escalation, stressing the issue is not on the Palestinian side, the Palestinian leader added. "The problem lies in Israeli escalation, killing and violence against the people of Gaza," he said.

He said Gaza, emerging from "rubble and harsh suffering," has fulfilled its duty, and the enclave's next phase must focus on recovery and rebuilding.

Meshaal rejected any proposal for disarmament, saying practical alternatives exist that prevent escalation without stripping Palestinians of their means of defense.

"Disarming the Palestinians means removing their soul," he said. "Our experience with the (Israeli) occupation is that when the Palestinian weapon is removed, the massacres begin-from Sabra and Shatila to the massacres committed throughout Palestinian history," he said, referring to the 1982 killings in Beirut.

Netanyahu said Sunday that he will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House this month to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Phase one of the Oct. 10 truce deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Israel ties the start of negotiations for launching the second phase of the ceasefire agreement to receiving the bodies of all its captives. It claims that the remains of one Israeli captive are still in Gaza, while Hamas says it has handed over all 20 Israeli hostages who were alive and the remains of all 28 who were killed.

Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite a ceasefire. The two years of relentless bombing also levelled the enclave and led to severe shortages of food and shelter.