Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal reaffirmed the terrorist group’s refusal to comply with US President Donald Trump’s call to lay down arms, and vowed “to defeat our enemy, Israel, God willing."
Mashaal, who was quoted by JNS, delivered the remarks at the 17th Al Jazeera Forum held in Doha, Qatar, where he addressed ongoing demands for Hamas to disarm as part of Phase 2 of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza. The plan calls for the deployment of an International Stabilization Force to the Gaza Strip and a halt to Hamas’s armed activities.
“As long as our people are under occupation," Mashaal told the audience, “talk of disarmament is an attempt to turn our people into victims, to make their elimination easier and to facilitate their destruction at the hands of the Israeli side, which is armed with every international means of warfare."
He continued, “Questions about the resistance’s weapons are being raised forcefully. Some want to place it in the context that whoever carried out Oct. 7 must be cornered and made to pay the price."
Mashaal added, “As those who participated in the resistance, we must not accept this," and declared that “resistance is the right of occupied peoples."
Mashaal praised the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in southern Israel. He said the massacre “returned the Palestinian cause to the forefront of regional and international attention, and it is no longer possible to bypass it; resolving it has become a necessity."
He again pledged to defeat Israel, describing the Jewish state as “an existential threat and danger to us and the region."
Asked about the US-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a transitional governing body intended to exclude Hamas from control of the Strip, Mashaal reiterated the terrorist group’s rejection of any external authority.
“We do not accept the logic of guardianship, foreign intervention or the re-imposition of a new mandate," he stated.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the Al Jazeera Forum, calling it a “gathering of jihadists and their support staff."
Hamas has repeatedly refused to disarm, despite Trump’s peace plan demanding it lay down its weapons, claiming its weapons are used for “self-defense against the occupation."
Trump said last week that the Hamas terrorist organization has to give up its weapons, warning that if it does not, it will be destroyed.
“Now [that the war has ended] they have to disarm," Trump stated. “Some people say they won’t, but they will, and if they don’t, they’re gonna not be around any longer."
“But they agreed to disarm," he added.