Hamas Reply Keeps Gaza Weapons and Tunnel Dispute Open
Published
Hamas's Cairo delegation delivered or discussed its answer to Nickolay Mladenov's Board of Peace amendments, with the weapons file still the central obstacle. Hamas tried to remove infrastructure language covering tunnels, weapons depots and workshops and rejected a detailed list that still treated tunnels, warehouses, training sites, small arms, uniforms and field hospitals as disarmament assets. Hamas wants the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to handle weapons inventory and rejects any Israeli role. Israel should insist that reconstruction and new governance follow verified dismantling of Hamas tunnels and arsenals, not another wording exercise that leaves the terror army intact.
Sources
Difference in reporting
Sources agree on the main facts: a Hamas delegation led by Zaher Jabarin was in Cairo to deliver or discuss a response to Mladenov's Board of Peace amendments; the weapons clause remains the central obstacle; Hamas objects to terms that would put tunnels and other military infrastructure under disarmament; and the delegation tied the file to Gaza governance, reconstruction and political conditions. They diverge on the drafting sequence: Ynet reports Hamas removed the term infrastructure from language covering tunnels, weapons depots and workshops; Al Manassa reports Mladenov agreed to remove resistance infrastructure but returned with a detailed list that still covered tunnels, warehouses, training sites, small arms, uniforms and field hospitals; Al Khaleej does not report the wording dispute and says Hamas wants the Gaza administrative committee, not Israel, to handle weapons inventory.
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