Gaza, US yes to small arms for Hamas. West Bank, IDF prevents Palestinians from ploughing
EU: Israel's measures in the West Bank are incompatible with law
The United States will ask Hamas to hand over all weapons capable of striking Israel, but will allow the group to keep some light ones, at least initially. The New York Times reveals this after viewing a draft of the Board of peace's plan for Gaza.
A team led by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff intends to present the document to Hamas within a few weeks. The draft is in line with a set of principles discussed publicly by US negotiators. Last month in Davos Kushner presented the next steps for the demilitarisation of Gaza, stating that Hamas's 'heavy weapons' would be 'laid down immediately' but that 'personal' ones would be 'registered and decommissioned' at a later date, when the new Palestinian administration will take over the security of the Strip.
It is unclear what weapons are meant by 'personal' but it is unlikely that Israel will withdraw its troops from the enclave before Hamas and other militant groups lay down all weapons. Without demilitarisation, it will be difficult for Trump's Board of Peace to implement the next steps of the 20-point plan.
Here comes the Palestinian armed group's response. Osama Hamdan, one of Hamas's leaders, said Hamas is ready to join Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan by supporting the Committee of Palestinian Technocrats but reiterated its refusal to disarm. "We will support the Palestinian technocrats. We will give them control of 10,000 police officers in the Gaza Strip,' said Hamdan, in an interview with the Norwegian public service broadcaster, Nrk. But 'we will keep the militias,' Hamdan stated, disagreeing with the American demand.
"Instead of asking Israel to end the occupation, they are asking the victims to give up their fight for freedom," he stressed. "Our weapons serve to protect our people from Israeli attacks. As long as Israel occupies Palestine, we will continue to fight it." Hamdan went on to claim that with the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, he achieved 'the isolation of Israel'. And when asked whether with over 70,000 Palestinian casualties it was 'worth it', he replied: 'Can you put a price on living in a free nation? If Norway was occupied by another country, would you accept it because people have the right to live without being killed? What is the meaning of life when you have the choice between being a slave or being killed?"
