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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Of course: Hamas response to Board of Peace bucks demands to hand over weapons — Arab diplomats |
| 2026-05-03 |
| [IsraelTimes] Hamas largely bucked demands to give up all of its weapons in a response to a Board of Peace disarmament proposal submitted in Cairo on Saturday, two Arab diplomats familiar with the negotiations tell The Times of Israel. Just accept that they need to be pounded a great deal more before they will walk away from their Islamic duty to kill all the Jews, and let Israel get on with it. After all, the shipment from America arrived the other day, so no need to delay any longer. While the US-led Board of Peace tasked with overseeing the postwar management of Gaza has been pushing Hamas to accept a phased return of its weapons, the terror group’s counter-offer insisted that the issue only be part of a framework culminating in the establishment of a Palestinian state.While US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, on which the Board of Peace is operating, speaks generally of eventual Palestinian self-determination, Hamas in its response demanded more definitive guarantees toward that end before discussing the handover of its weapons, the two Arab diplomats say. Hamas also demanded that Israel cease violating commitments pertaining to the first phase of the ceasefire deal reached in October, taking issue with Israel’s expansion of the eastern half of Gaza that it controls, its strikes on fighters on the western side of the Strip and daily entries of humanitarian aid that have fallen below agreed-upon terms, the Arab diplomats add. One of the Arab diplomats maintains that it is still possible for the mediators to coax Hamas to gradually give up its weapons, but says similar pressure will also have to be applied by the US on Israel to uphold its commitments. The diplomat says such simultaneous pressure on Israel and Hamas is unlikely to come while international attention is largely focused on Iran. However, the Arab official acknowledges that the status quo in Gaza will be harder to reverse the longer it is allowed to remain in place. Related: Board of Peace: 2026-05-01 Detained Gaza-bound flotilla members will be transferred to Greece, Sa’ar says Board of Peace: 2026-04-29 Israel-backed armed groups are expanding their reach in Gaza Board of Peace: 2026-04-21 ‘They’re not easy’: Board of Peace envoy admits Hamas disarmament talks stalled |
| Posted by:trailing wife |