Doha (Monitoring Desk): Head of Hamas’s overseas political office, Khaled Mashal, has strongly rejected demands to disarm Palestinian factions in Gaza, saying that stripping weapons from an occupied people would make them an easy target for elimination.
According to Al Jazeera, speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Mashal said that the debate over forcing Hamas to lay down arms is part of a long-standing effort to neutralize Palestinian armed resistance. He argued that as long as the Palestinian people remain under occupation, calls for disarmament would give Israel the opportunity to target Palestinians with its superior international military backing.
Mashal said that if talks on this issue are to take place, an environment must first be created that guarantees Gaza’s reconstruction, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and safeguards against the resumption of war. He added that Hamas has conveyed its position to the United States through mediators and indirect channels, including Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt.
He maintained that the real issue is not the resistance forces in Gaza but Israel itself, which, he said, seeks to disarm Palestinians in order to push them toward chaos and instability.
