Hamas said in August 2025 that it would not relinquish its weapons unless Palestinians obtained what it described as their full national rights, including an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The statement directly contradicted remarks attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who had told families of Israeli hostages that Hamas was prepared to disarm.
The dispute went to the heart of one of the most difficult questions in negotiations over ending the Gaza war: whether, when and under what political arrangements Hamas would give up its weapons. Israel has repeatedly demanded Hamas's disarmament and removal from governing Gaza, while Hamas has linked its weapons to the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Palestinian statehood.
Hamas Rejects Witkoff's Account
In its August 2, 2025 statement, Hamas said its armed resistance could not be relinquished until Palestinian national rights were restored, specifically citing the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Reuters reported that the statement followed Witkoff's assertion that Hamas was ready to disarm.
Hamas is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and is proscribed in its entirety under British terrorism law. Israel has made eliminating Hamas's military capabilities a central objective of its Gaza campaign.
At the time of the statement, indirect negotiations involving Israel and Hamas had stalled after efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to secure a temporary ceasefire and another hostage-release agreement failed to bridge major differences. Those differences included the duration and scope of a ceasefire, Israeli military withdrawal, guarantees concerning an end to the war and Hamas's future role in Gaza.
Hostages and Pressure for a Broader Deal
Witkoff was visiting Israel as pressure intensified over the remaining hostages. During a meeting with hostage families in Tel Aviv, he said Washington was working with Israel on a broader plan intended to end the conflict and return all hostages rather than pursue only a partial arrangement.
The issue became especially prominent after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released videos showing Israeli hostages in visibly emaciated condition. The family of hostage Evyatar David said Hamas was deliberately starving him and appealed to the Israeli and U.S. governments to secure his release. Hamas did not provide independent evidence establishing the circumstances that produced his condition.
Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir also warned at the time that military operations would continue if efforts to secure the hostages did not advance.
Regional Pressure on Hamas
Hamas's position also came as international diplomacy increasingly connected Palestinian statehood with proposals for postwar governance and security arrangements in Gaza. Arab governments participating in diplomatic initiatives backed an eventual Palestinian state while also supporting a future in which Hamas would not exercise armed control over Gaza.
The debate was not simply about diplomatic recognition. Recognition of a Palestinian state by another government does not by itself create the fully sovereign state described in Hamas's statement, determine borders, end Israeli military control, settle the status of Jerusalem or establish agreed security arrangements.
That distinction became more important in the following months. The United Kingdom formally recognized the State of Palestine on September 21, 2025, alongside Canada and Australia. France announced its recognition on September 22. Those governments presented recognition as support for a negotiated two-state solution while separately stating that Hamas should have no governing role in a future Palestinian state.
Humanitarian Crisis Was Worsening
The dispute over disarmament unfolded during a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On July 31, 2025, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 1,373 Palestinians had been killed while seeking food since May 27, including 859 near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites and 514 along humanitarian convoy routes.
The UN human rights office said most of those killings were committed by the Israeli military and called for independent investigations. Israel disputed accusations that its forces intentionally targeted civilians and accused Hamas and other armed actors of contributing to disorder around aid distribution areas.
The humanitarian situation was also marked by severe food shortages and rising malnutrition. UN agencies repeatedly called for substantially greater and more reliable humanitarian access. Israeli authorities said they were facilitating aid and disputed claims that Israel was deliberately creating starvation, while humanitarian organizations reported major restrictions, insecurity and operational obstacles affecting the delivery and distribution of supplies.
How the War Began
The Gaza war began after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. Israel responded with a large-scale military campaign in Gaza.
By early August 2025, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry was reporting more than 60,000 Palestinian deaths since the start of the war. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its overall death toll. The United Nations has regularly used the ministry's figures while noting that casualty information continues to be updated and that individual deaths cannot all be independently verified in real time.
Disarmament Remained Unresolved After the 2025 Ceasefire
Later developments did not settle the underlying dispute. In October 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a U.S.-backed ceasefire framework that included hostage and prisoner releases and changes to Israeli military deployments. However, questions surrounding Hamas's disarmament, the extent of Israeli withdrawal, Gaza's future governance and long-term reconstruction remained unresolved.
Nearly a year later, those issues were still obstructing implementation of broader postwar plans. In September 2026, Reuters reported that Israel and Hamas remained at odds over ceasefire terms, including Hamas's disarmament and Israeli troop withdrawal, while major reconstruction projects remained uncertain.
The continuing disagreement illustrates the difference between diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood and the political, territorial and security arrangements required for a functioning sovereign state. Hamas's August 2025 declaration made disarmament conditional on the latter, while Israel and several international governments have maintained that Hamas should disarm and have no governing role in a future Gaza administration. How those positions can be reconciled remains one of the central unresolved questions in efforts to turn the ceasefire into a lasting political settlement.
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