December 11, 2025 | 04:30 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A senior leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, said they are willing to consider a temporary freeze of weapons, but they refuse full disarmament. Disarmament is the main demand of the U.S.-backed Gaza peace plan.
Meshaal indicated that negotiations are ongoing with the mediators as the fragile ceasefire enters a new phase. Tensions between Israel and Hamas continue to persist.
A senior leader of Hamas told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the militant group is open to not using weapons. However, they reject the demand for total disarmament proposed in the U.S.-sponsored Gaza peace plan.
"The idea of total disarmament is unacceptable to the resistance (Hamas). What is being proposed is a freeze, or storage (of weapons)... to provide guarantees against any military escalation from Gaza with the Israeli occupation," said Khaled Meshaal.
"This is the idea we're discussing with the mediators, and I believe that with pragmatic American thinking... such a vision could be agreed upon with the U.S. administration," he said.
The U.S.-sponsored ceasefire agreement, in effect since October 10, 2025, halted the war that began after a deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. However, the agreement remains fragile as Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of violating the agreement almost every day.
The agreement consists of three phases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently indicated that the agreement will soon enter the second phase.
In this phase, Israeli forces will further withdraw from Gaza and be replaced by International Stabilization Forces (ISF). Meanwhile, Hamas will lay down its weapons.
Netanyahu is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in the U.S. later this month to discuss the next steps in the ceasefire. However, the Palestinian militant group indicated that it will not agree to disarm.
The U.S.-mediated ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 2025, ending a two-year war that began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
France 24 explained that in the first phase, Hamas is required to return all hostages who are still alive and those who have died. Israel is required to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and return hundreds of bodies. There is only one Israeli hostage remaining in Gaza, paving the way for the second phase.
According to Al Jazeera, even during the ceasefire, the agreement remains fragile. Israel continues to carry out airstrikes that have killed more than 370 Palestinian civilians, accusing Hamas of violating the agreement, while Hamas says Israel failed to fulfill its humanitarian obligations.
Read: 77th Anniversary of Genocide Convention: Palestine Declares World Has Failed Victims
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