US President Donald J. Trump's "Board of Peace" has reportedly presented Hamas with a written proposal on how it could lay down its weapons, according to a recent report.
The proposal "was submitted to Hamas during meetings in Cairo over the past week." The talks were attended by Nikolay Mladenov, the Trump-appointed "Board of Peace" envoy to the Gaza Strip, and Aryeh Lightstone, a US aide to Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Mladenov, in a message greeting Muslims on the Eid al-Fitr feast marking the end of Ramadan, later wrote on X:
"As the blessed days of Eid are upon us, serious efforts persist to chart a hopeful path for Gaza. A framework has been agreed by all mediators that can unlock reconstruction, breathe life back into communities, and bring closer to unity and a negotiated resolution of the Palestinian question. It is now on the table. It requires one clear choice: full decommissioning by Hamas and every armed group, with no exceptions and no carve-outs. In this season of hope, may those responsible make the right choice for the Palestinian people."
Someone needs to inform Mladenov that Hamas has already made a choice: to reject disarmament. Over the past few months, Hamas leaders have consistently dismissed demands to disarm and characterized disarmament as a "red line." Hamas leaders have instead proposed long-term truces (5-10 years) rather than total decommissioning of arms. Another thing the "Board of Peace" and Mladenov do not seem to understand is that Hamas uses ceasefires with Israel to rebuild, regroup, and restock its arsenal and tunnel networks.
The tone of the latest US proposal to Hamas and Mladenov's holiday greetings appears as if the Trump administration is pleading with Hamas to disarm. There is something deeply misguided – if not outright dangerous – about the idea that the US or other international parties should beg Hamas to lay down its weapons. To ask Hamas politely to disarm is fantasyland.
The notion that the "Board of Peace," no matter how well-intentioned, can persuade Hamas to relinquish its arsenal through dialogue alone ignores decades of evidence to the contrary. The Trump administration seems to have forgotten that Hamas is a terrorist group whose foundational principles and actions are centered on the use of violent Jihad (holy war) and the destruction of Israel. Hamas is aware that it cannot achieve its goal without holding onto its weapons.
Hamas's 1988 Charter explicitly states that "Israel will exist, and continue to exist, until Islam will obliterate it," rejects any negotiated peace settlement, and emphasizes that jihad is the "only solution."
More than four months after the ceasefire went into effect in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has shown no sign that it intends to disarm. In fact, Hamas has exploited the ceasefire to regroup, rearm, and tighten its grip on the Gaza Strip by cracking down on dissent, imposing taxes on the population, deploying its police forces in areas under its control, and appointing its own men to senior positions in government institutions.
On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, masked members of Hamas's military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, reappeared on the streets of the Gaza Strip as part of an effort to send a message to the Palestinians and the rest of the world that the terrorist group is not going anywhere.
"Qassam resistance fighters are distributing sweets to children after Eid prayer in Nuseirat camp in the Gaza Strip," a Hamas supporter commented on X.
"For more than two years, they have been trying to eliminate the resistance in Gaza, but failure has been their ally and companion. And soon, God willing, victory and liberation will come."
Also on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades released a video featuring its terrorists inside tunnels, as well as footage documenting clashes with the Israeli army.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which spearheaded the October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel, pledged to continue the fight "until the complete liberation of Palestine" – the elimination of Israel: "Every sacrifice brings Palestinians one step closer to their goal of complete liberation."
If anything, these threats show that Hamas has no intention to end its jihad against Israel or lay down its weapons. That is why the Trump administration is making an enormous mistake by assuming that Hamas will agree to hand over its weapons through diplomacy and negotiations. When the Trump administration appears to plead with Hamas, it is inverting the basic logic of diplomacy. Instead of applying pressure on the terror group, Trump's "Board of Peace" is effectively legitimizing Hamas's tactics. The dangerous message now being sent is: hold on to your weapons long enough, and the world will come to beg you.
Hamas will disarm only when it realizes that the cost of holding onto weapons exceeds the benefits. Hamas will lay down its weapons only when it faces sustained political, economic and, if necessary, military pressure. Hamas has made it clear that its weapons are not bargaining chips. For Hamas, weapons are the foundation of its rule, its ideology, and its survival. Asking Hamas to give up its weapons voluntarily is like asking the Republican or Democrat party to vote itself out of existence.
Treating disarmament as a voluntary goodwill gesture rather than a non-negotiable prerequisite is unfortunately a non-starter. Disarmament is not a favor Hamas gives; it is a condition that must be enforced to prevent countless more October 7-style massacres against Jews.
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
