Bishara Bahbah, the American-Palestinian mediator and chairman of the American Arabs Committee, commented on the complex issue of the demand to disarm Hamas, given the movement’s rejection of this before the establishment of a Palestinian state, describing the matter as “very sensitive.”

In television statements to Al Jazeera, he pointed out that the US side has “removed the issue of disarmament due to its awareness of the difficulty of the matter” during the current phase, in light of his involvement in negotiations over the past seven months.

He revealed that the US administration’s definition of “disarming Hamas” does not mean complete disarmament; rather, it is limited to handing over “heavy weapons,” while allowing Hamas members to keep their individual weapons.

He said that US officials from the White House informed him that “the American side interprets disarmament as Hamas handing over heavy weapons to the Arab Palestinian Islamic side,” with an understanding that Hamas members retain their individual weapons “to defend themselves if any attack occurs on their homes or themselves.”

He believed that Israel “will try to claim that disarmament means removing every single weapon in Gaza,” stressing that this is “impossible to achieve, because even Hamas does not know where the weapons are, either forgotten or those who buried or hid them have died.”

He added that the definition of “heavy weapons” means “any weapon that can kill five or more people at once, according to the American side,” noting that this includes rockets and others; however, “no one knows what types of weapons Hamas still possesses.”

He pointed out that Hamas understands that “it is impossible to return to armed struggle in its traditional sense, i.e., attacking Israel,” citing its commitment during the ceasefire in the January 19 truce, during which Hamas did not fire a single bullet, while Israel killed more than 70 Palestinians.