Hamas’s senior leader abroad, Khaled Meshaal, has strongly rejected the notion of disarming Palestinians, arguing that removing their weapons would be like stripping away their very soul. He made these remarks while addressing the ongoing discussions about advancing the second phase of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Meshaal emphasized that the primary threat to Gaza comes from ongoing actions by the Israeli occupation, not from the Palestinian people themselves, and that governance of the enclave should remain fully in Palestinian hands.
According to Meshaal, Gaza has “given all it can” in suffering and destruction and now needs focused efforts on relief, recovery, and rebuilding rather than demands to relinquish arms. He stated that the people of Gaza are no longer required to resume fighting but still need support to recover from the widespread devastation.
Meshaal’s stance aligns with other recent comments in which he and other senior Hamas figures have insisted that disarmament is unacceptable and have instead proposed alternatives such as a long-term truce and deployment of an international stabilization force to help prevent renewed hostilities. Critics of disarmament argue that stripping Palestinians of their means of defense would leave them vulnerable to future violence.
