Abu Obaida says the group’s call for disarmament is tantamount to an effort to continue Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Published on 5 April 2026
Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida has said the group’s call for disarmament is tantamount to Israel’s attempt to continue genocide.
Hamas’s armed wing has rejected the Palestinian group’s calls for disarmament, saying that discussing the issue before Israel fully implements the first phase of a United States-brokered “truce” in Israel’s war on Gaza is tantamount to an effort to continue genocide against the Palestinian people.
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In a televised statement on Sunday, Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said raising the weapons issue “in a crude manner” would not be acceptable.
The issue of Hamas giving up its weapons is a major hurdle in talks to implement US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which aims to end Israel’s war on the besieged territory.
More than 705 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since a US and Qatar-brokered “ceasefire” took effect in October, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss disarmament without guarantees that Israel will completely withdraw from Gaza, three sources told Reuters news agency last week.
“What the enemy is trying to do today against the Palestinian resistance through our brotherly mediators is extremely dangerous,” he said.
He said that the demand for disarmament is “nothing but a blatant attempt to continue the genocide against our people, which we will not accept under any circumstances”.
It was not immediately clear whether the comments were a formal rejection of the US-backed plan, which also includes demands that Hamas lay down its arms.
More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and at least 172,000 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began following Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023.
Abu Obaidah urged mediators to pressure Israel to meet its commitments under the first phase of the Trump plan before any discussion of the second phase.
“The enemy is one who undermines the agreement,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on his remarks.
Abu Obaida also discussed Israel’s role in this US-Israel war on IranCondemned it for launching attacks on Iran “in full collusion and conspiracy with the United States, amidst the deception of negotiations”.
The United States was involved in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program a few weeks before the outbreak of war between the United States and Israel on February 28.
More than 2,000 people have been killed and at least 26,500 others injured in Iran since the war began.
Abu Obaida also condemned Israel’s renewed offensive “against sister Lebanon”, which it said began on March 2 after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 1,400 people and displaced more than 1.2 million, according to Lebanese officials.
Abu Obaida praised Iran, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis for their continued attacks against Israel.
The Hamas spokesman also condemned the Israeli parliament’s passage of a new death penalty law that applies only to Palestinians, urging people in the West Bank to “demand, by all means, the freeing of (Palestinian) prisoners held in Israeli prisons.”
