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** Hamas Clearly Does Not Want To Lay Down Its Weapons ([link removed])
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • October 23, 2025 at 5:00 am
* "If we achieve a sovereign and independent Palestinian state that preserves the rights of the Palestinian people, then these weapons will be transferred to the Palestinian state and its army." — Abdul Jabbar Saeed, member of Hamas's political bureau, arabi21.com, October 16, 2025.
* Saeed dismissed the idea of deploying international forces in the Gaza Strip.... He also rejected the idea of excluding Hamas from playing a future role in the governance of the Gaza Strip. "Completely excluding Hamas from the scene is not possible," he stressed.
* The involvement of Qatar and Turkey in the Gaza Strip is problematic because the two countries have always been supportive of Hamas. Both countries continue to provide shelter to several Hamas leaders and act as if they are its attorneys by constantly defending the terror group while condemning Israel.
* The Saudis and Emiratis have reportedly notified the Trump administration that they would downgrade their level of engagement in the implementation of the Trump plan. Referring to Qatar, they warned that increasing the influence of "countries that destabilize the region" would derail the momentum of prosperity Trump has touted.
* A Saudi source warned that Qatar was expected to help Hamas maintain its presence and return at an opportune moment.
* Notably, in 2017 several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE decided to cut their diplomatic ties with Qatar over the Gulf state's support for Islamist terror groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood.
* Saudi Arabia said it made the decision to cut diplomatic ties due to Qatar's "embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region," including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State (ISIS), and groups supported by Iran in the kingdom's eastern province of Qatif.
* Egypt's Foreign Ministry accused Qatar of taking "an antagonistic approach" toward Egypt and said "all attempts to stop it from supporting terrorist groups failed...." Instead of insisting that Hamas lay down its weapons in compliance with Trump's plan, they are now talking about the possibility that the terror group would "freeze" its weapons.... It is worth noting that the Trump plan does not talk about a "freeze" of Hamas's weapons.
* Bahrain, for its part, blamed Qatar's "media incitement, support for armed terrorist activities, and funding linked to Iranian groups to carry out sabotage and spreading chaos in Bahrain" for its decision to cut diplomatic ties.
* Anyone who believes that Hamas will voluntarily give up its weapons is living in a dream world. For the terror group, this would be tantamount to suicide. The terms "demilitarization" and "deradicalization" do not exist in Hamas's lexicon.
* Worse, anyone who believes that Qatar and Turkey will force Hamas to dismantle its military infrastructure is also living in fantasy land.

Anyone who believes that Hamas will voluntarily give up its weapons is living in a dream world. For the terror group, this would be tantamount to suicide. The terms "demilitarization" and "deradicalization" do not exist in Hamas's lexicon. Pictured: A Hamas gunman stands in a crowd of human shields, in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip on October 13, 2025. (Photo by Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

According to US President Donald Trump's plan for ending the war in the Gaza Strip, "all military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning."

Since the announcement of the plan, however, Hamas officials have repeatedly emphasized that their Iran-backed terror group, which started the war by attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, has no intention of laying down its weapons. Hamas evidently wants to hold onto its weapons so that it can continue its Jihad (holy war) against Israel and ensure its own continued control of the Gaza Strip.

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