03-08-2025
Armed resistance 'will not be abandoned' until Palestinian state is established: Hamas - War on Gaza
Hamas said on Saturday it would not relinquish its weapons before the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, rejecting recent comments by US envoy Steve Witkoff suggesting the group might be willing to disarm.
In a statement, the group said: 'Resistance and its tools are a legitimate national right as long as the occupation continues — a right recognized by international law and conventions.'
'Resistance and its arms cannot be abandoned except upon the full restoration of our national rights — first and foremost, the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,' it added.
The remarks came in response to Witkoff, the US Special Envoy to the Middle East, who said during a visit to Tel Aviv on Saturday that 'Hamas is willing to disarm, but we need to ensure they follow through.'
'Several Arab governments are now pressing Hamas to disarm, so we're very close to a solution that could end the war in Gaza,' Witkoff added.
Founded in the late 1980s during the first intifada, the Islamist Resistance Movement (Hamas) is a political organization with an armed wing, Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades, to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Hamas' statement also follows growing international outrage over mounting famine conditions in Gaza amid an all-out Israeli blockade on the strip since 2 March.
In recent days, several Western countries — including France, the UK, Canada and Malta — have announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood at the upcoming United Nations (UN) General Assembly session in September.
War and resistance
On 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters launched a large-scale attack on Israeli military bases and settlements near the then-under-17-year-long siege strip, killing and wounding hundreds of soldiers and settlers, and capturing 250 people.
The ensuing Israeli genocidal war on the strip has since killed at least 60,400 Palestinians and injured over 150,000 others, per the Palestinian health ministry. The majority of those killed have been women and children.
Over the past 22 months, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza, estimated at 2.3 million, and devastated homes, schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure.
The military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad — Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades, respectively — have led the armed resistance against Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza, engaging in guerrilla warfare against Israeli occupation soldiers, killing and injuring hundreds of Israeli soldiers and destroying a large number of tanks and armed personnel carriers.
Since the start of the war, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have mediated talks to reach a ceasefire and prisoner swap deals.
On 18 March, Israel unilaterally ruptured a temporary truce brokered in late January to resume the genocide, unimpeded.
Since 2 March, Israel's deadly blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed intermittently since the start of the war and tightened to a near-total closure, has driven the territory into famine.
Under international pressure, Israel was recently forced to open some border crossings and allow the entry of minimal amounts of aid into the strip.
Two weeks ago, the US and Israel withdrew from the latest round of negotiations, claiming that Hamas was not negotiating in "good faith."
Hamas retaliated by stressing that it has displayed the utmost flexibility in negotiations but could not compromise on a deal that would entail the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and a permanent end to the war.
Still, officials from Egypt, Qatar, and the US have since confirmed that indirect talks between Israel and Hamas are ongoing in Doha to reach a ceasefire deal.
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