GAZA (ITALPRESS) – In an interview broadcast Wednesday by the TV channel Qatariota Al-Jazeera, a high exponent of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has relaunched a proposal that could redefine the negotiations for peace between Israel and the movement: a “freeze” of weapons in exchange for a prolonged truce, while firmly rejecting the idea of total disarmament.
According to Meshaal, the option of freezing or preserving weapons – instead of their complete surrender – is a possible trading base with international brokers, including the US administration. “The idea of total disarmament is unacceptable to resistance,” Meshaal said, recalling that disarmament would be tantamount to depriving the Palestinians of their soul and the right to defence. The Hamas proposal is part of the ceasefire agreement sponsored by the United States, which entered into force on 10 October to end the war in Gaza after the attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on 7 October 2023. The understanding includes a sequence in three phases negotiated between the parties under the aegis of Washington and other “garanti” countries.
As for the International Stabilisation Force foreseen by the American plan, Hamas is not contrary to the presence of international observers along the frontier, but rejects the idea that foreign forces operate within the Gaza Strip, defining it as a form of occupation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced that the path to the second stage of the truce could soon begin, a progress also linked to the delivery of the remains of the last Israeli police officer missing among the exchanges of hostages.
This phase includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the possible replacement with an international stabilization force, in exchange for an effective disarmament of Hamas. This point, however, remains one of the main sources of tension: While Tel Aviv insists on a complete disarmament before any step towards normalization, Hamas continues to pose far wider political and security conditions, linking any renunciation of arms to concrete and lasting guarantees of peace and the development of a Palestinian State.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
