As Arab and Western leaders continue to discuss plans to rebuild the Gaza Strip, the ran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has again rejected laying down its weapons.
For Hamas, preserving its weapons and military wing, Izz a-Din al-Qassam, is apparently more important than the reconstruction of thousands of homes and buildings destroyed during the Hamas-Israel war, which erupted after the terrorist group's October 7, 2023, bloodthirsty attack on Israel.
"Disarming Hamas is a red line," senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted as saying on March 4. He added that his group will not accept exchanging its weapons for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the resumption of humanitarian aid.
Abu Zuhri described the talk about Hamas's disarmament as "nonsense" and stressed that weapons are a red line for Hamas and all terror factions in the Gaza Strip. "The weapons are not subject to bargaining and are not up for discussion or negotiation," he said.
His remarks have been echoed by several other Hamas officials who emphasized in recent statements their total rejection to disarm.
The officials also stressed that Hamas is opposed to the deportation of its members from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that Israel's demand that his group be evacuated from the Gaza Strip is "ridiculous psychological warfare." He added: "[Hamas's] withdrawal [from Gaza] or disarming is unacceptable."
Hamas's statements are directed not only towards Israel and the US, which support the idea of disarming the terror group and removing it from power, but also to the Arab countries that are talking about reconstructing the Gaza Strip and establishing a new governing body there.
The heads of several Arab states met in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on March 4, at an Arab League summit, to discuss plans to rebuild the Gaza Strip. According to Reuters, the Arab leaders were to discuss an Egyptian plan that would see the creation of a "Governance Assistance Mission" that would replace Hamas in the Gaza Strip for an unspecified interim period, and would be responsible for humanitarian aid and for starting reconstruction of the coastal enclave.
The establishment of a new government in the Gaza Strip while Hamas maintains its military capabilities there unfortunately will not work. Hamas's presence during reconstruction will only result in the emergence of the Lebanon model: Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy terror group, simply created a terrorist state-within-a-state.
If the alleged Egyptian plan materializes, it will allow Hamas to function as a parallel political and military power alongside the proposed Governance Assistance Mission in the Gaza Strip.
Worse, having a new government that would oversee reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip while Hamas is still there would exempt the Palestinian terrorist group from its responsibilities towards Gaza's residents. The new government would not be able to stop Hamas from rearming, regrouping, and preparing more attacks against Israel -- as Hamas has unremittingly vowed to do.
The new government would be busy rebuilding homes and skyscrapers and delivering humanitarian aid, while Hamas and the other terror groups would have all the time in the world to rebuild tunnels and manufacture weapons.
If the Arabs are genuinely eager to help the residents of the Gaza Strip, they need to insist on disarming Hamas and removing it from power. The Palestinian Authority (PA), which has expressed readiness to return to the Gaza Strip, must also make the same demand.
Bringing the PA back to the Gaza Strip is also not a great idea. The PA ruled the Gaza Strip between 1994 and 2007, but failed to rein in Hamas and other terror groups, including the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). As a result, Hamas became so strong that it managed to seize full control of the Gaza Strip, and violently overthrow the PA in the summer of 2007.
Anyone who believes that PA President Mahmoud Abbas will order his security forces to crack down on the terror groups should he return to the Gaza Strip is living on a different planet. The PA security forces have failed to prevent the emergence of dozens of Iran-backed terror groups in the northern West Bank over the past few years. Late last year, an attempt by the PA security forces to disarm dozens of Hamas and PIJ gunmen in Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank was unsuccessful, prompting the Israel Defense Forces to launch a major counterterrorism operation there and in two other camps.
Hamas never cared about the well-being of the Palestinians under its rule in the Gaza Strip. The terrorist group could have built schools, universities, and hospitals. Instead, it chose to invest millions of dollars in building a vast network of tunnels to attack Israel, smuggle and hide weapons, and torture Israeli hostages.
Moreover, Hamas chose to invest many millions of dollars in manufacturing and smuggling weapons, including rockets, missiles, and explosive devices that were used to attack Israel -- before and after the October 7 massacre.
Hamas and its patrons in Iran have brought nothing but death and destruction on the Palestinians, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the resumption of humanitarian aid should be conditioned on the removal of Hamas from power and disarming of all of Gaza's terror groups.
Hamas should be completely excluded from any plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip because all it cares about is pursuing its Jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel and murder as many Jews as possible. Under Hamas, the Gaza Strip has been transformed into one of the largest and most dangerous bases for Jihad in the Middle East, posing a threat not only to Israel, but also to neighboring Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan.
In light of the latest statements by senior Hamas officials, it is clear that the terrorist group is determined to hold on to its weapons and its power, even if that entails depriving the Gaza Strip's residents of reconstruction and further humanitarian aid. Hamas must not only be removed from power; it must disappear altogether.
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
