Hamas has reaffirmed that it will not agree to disarm unless a sovereign Palestinian state is established, in response to one of Israel’s key demands in talks about a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Palestinian nationalist organisation, with a military wing, said it was responding to Steve Witkoff’s – US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy—remarks purportedly that Hamas had “expressed its willingness” to lay down its weapons.
Witkoff has been visiting Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faces mounting pressure over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Israeli forces opened fire near two aid distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as crowds of hungry Palestinians again sought food, killing at least 10 people. The violence came a day after Witkoff visited a GHF site and the US ambassador called the troubled system “an incredible feat.”
Aid is “far from sufficient,” Germany’s government said via spokesman Stefan Kornelius. The UN has said 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed daily, reports AP.
Israel considers the disarmament of Hamas one of several key conditions for any deal to end the conflict, reports the BBC. Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages stalled last week.
Hamas stressed that it has a “national and legal” right to confront the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, says Al Jazeera.
In the past few days, Arab governments have urged Hamas to disarm and surrender control of Gaza, after a number of Western countries – including France and Canada – announced plans to recognise a state of Palestine. The UK said it would if Israel did not meet certain conditions by September.
Hamas said in its statement that it could not yield its right to “resistance and its weapons” unless an “independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital” was established.
The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Lt Gen Eyal Zamir warned on Friday that there would be no respite in fighting in Gaza if negotiations failed to quickly secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas.
On Saturday, the family of hostage Evyatar David issued a statement after Hamas released a video showing him shirtless and emaciated in a dimly-lit tunnel. They accused Hamas of starving him as part of a propaganda campaign and appealed to the Israeli government and the United States to do everything possible to save him.
Meanwhile, UN agencies have warned there is man-made, mass starvation in Gaza, and have blamed Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies to the territory, even though Israel insists there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and that there is “no starvation”.
Witkoff said peace efforts should focus on ending the conflict and bringing home all the hostages, instead of what he called a partial deal.
At least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed seeking food since late May, according to UN agencies. The majority have been killed by the Israeli military GHF distribution sites.
Israel accuses Hamas of instigating chaos near the sites and says its troops do not intentionally open fire on civilians, although Israeli military’s actions invited criticism over collective punishment from international rights groups.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, and 169 people, including 93 children, have died from malnutrition, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.