Hamas official: Disarming resistance now would cause widespread chaos in Gaza

A senior Hamas figure has warned that immediate disarmament of resistance groups in Gaza, in the absence of an independent Palestinian state or a governing Palestinian administration, would trigger a serious power vacuum and widespread disorder across the territory.

Dr Abd al-Jabbar Said, a member of Hamas’s political bureau abroad, told Arabi21 that Hamas does not insist on keeping weapons for their own sake. He said the weapons are linked to the presence of occupation and to Palestinians’ legitimate right to resist it. If Palestinians ever achieve a sovereign, independent state that protects their rights, those weapons would be handed over to the new state and its army. At that point, he said, there would be no justification for keeping them outside state control.

Said also criticised recent comments by US president Donald Trump. He said that a few days earlier Trump appeared to accept Hamas’s actions against collaborators in Gaza and even suggested he had given Hamas a green light to maintain security. Said asked how Trump could now demand that Hamas immediately hand over and disarm its weapons while there is no Palestinian government in charge of Gaza. Dr Said emphasised such demands would only drag Gaza into full-scale chaos.

The Hamas leader added that history shows unilateral concessions or withdrawals without guarantees invite further attacks. He warned that giving up weapons without solid arrangements would open the door to more aggression.