The leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Heya, declared categorically against the disarmament of the radicals in a video message broadcast by the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera.
"The existence of Hamas and its weapons are directly related to the occupation. "The bearing of arms is the natural right of the representatives of our people," al-Heya said.
He also said that Israel's proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip includes impossible conditions.
“Netanyahu responded to the mediators' proposal with his own project, which contains impossible conditions and the implementation of which will not lead to an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave,“ al-Heya stressed. He did not specify which specific conditions Hamas considers impossible to implement.
Al-Heya noted that the Palestinian movement Hamas agreed to the mediators' proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which they presented in late March, while Israel rejected the conditions set.
“After the resumption of Israeli aggression in Gaza, the mediators contacted us to find a way out of the crisis. "At the end of Ramadan, they presented a proposal that we agreed to, even though we understood that Netanyahu wanted to continue the war and we were convinced of this when he rejected the mediators' project that we approved," he said.
The movement is ready to begin negotiations for the release of all Israeli hostages it is holding in exchange for a complete cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, al-Heya added.
"Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations that will lead to the release of all hostages we have and the release of the agreed number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. In return, we demand a complete cessation of the war against our people and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Strip, as well as the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza and the lifting of the blockade," al-Heya stressed.
He added that Hamas welcomed the position of US President Donald Trump's special envoy for hostage issues, Adam Boehler, who told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the fighting in Gaza "will stop the day the hostages are released."