Hamas Takes Firm Position After Israeli Threat: Palestine Will Not Surrender

International Desk, PNN

Following a threatening remark by an Israeli government official, Hamas has clearly rejected the demand that it must lay down its arms within 60 days, or else Israel will resume its “genocide campaign” in Gaza.

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi told Al Jazeera Mubasher on Monday that he was unaware of any such demand. He said, “These statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and through the media are merely threats and have no relevance to the ongoing negotiations.”

According to a report by The Times of Israel, Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs threatened at a conference in Jerusalem on Monday that if Hamas does not disarm within 60 days, Israel will resume its genocide campaign in Gaza. He claimed that the two-month deadline was requested by the United States administration and that they are respecting it.

Mardawi further warned that if the war resumes, it would have “serious consequences” for the region. He said, “The Palestinian people will not surrender.”

In the second phase of the ceasefire agreement that began in mid-January, the United States has sought to have Hamas lay down its arms and allow the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. However, Hamas has stated that it will not disarm as long as Israel continues its occupation of Gaza.

Since last October, more than 72,000 people have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks, including thousands of children. Nearly two million people in Gaza — of whom 1.5 million are displaced — are living in dire humanitarian conditions. There have been almost regular severe restrictions on the supply of food, medicine, medical equipment, shelter materials, and prefabricated homes.

Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal previously said, “Disarming an occupied people would make them easy prey.” Hamas’s position reflects its policy of maintaining arms amid what it describes as Israeli aggression.