President Donald Trump said on Thursday that “it looks like” Hamas is “going to disarm,” and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the group would “give up their AK-47s,” as Washington pressed a second-phase Gaza framework in which demilitarization is a core requirement. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said Hamas never agreed to surrender its weapons, said disarmament was never raised directly with Hamas by the United States or mediators, and said “not for a single moment” did Hamas discuss surrendering weapons or any formula for disarmament.
Trump made the remark during a White House cabinet meeting and did not provide evidence for the assertion. Witkoff, speaking in the same setting, framed disarmament as inevitable and said, “They will because they have no choice. They’re going to give up their AK-47s.” Trump also said Hamas helped locate and return the bodies of the last deceased hostages still held in Gaza, while Israel had not confirmed that cooperation in the remarks cited from the cabinet meeting.
Abu Marzouk rejected the premise in remarks aired on Al Jazeera, saying Hamas had not discussed “the weapons yet,” and saying neither the American side nor mediators had spoken to Hamas directly about disarmament.
He described negotiations as the place to debate “which weapons will be removed, what will be removed, [and] how they will be removed,” while arguing that a group not disarmed after two years of war would not be disarmed by talks alone. He stressed that Hamas still governs parts of Gaza not under IDF control under the ceasefire framework and suggested Hamas can block who effectively operates inside the Strip without its consent.
The United States told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that Gaza’s demilitarization would put weapons “permanently beyond use” through an agreed process “supported by an internationally funded buyback and reintegration program,” under international monitoring.
That briefing described a ceasefire deal brokered in October that ties further Israeli troop withdrawals to Hamas giving up its weapons, and it said the Security Council mandated a U.S.-led “Board of Peace” transitional administration through 2027, including authority to deploy a temporary International Stabilization Force.
A U.S. official said on Monday, January 26, that Washington expected Hamas to disarm and tied the process to an amnesty framework, including safe passage out of Gaza for members who choose to leave under the 20-point plan. Israel’s UN ambassador described Hamas as still heavily armed, including tens of thousands of Kalashnikov rifles and an estimate of roughly 60,000 assault rifles.
The dispute is unfolding as phase-two talks begin. Israel’s military said on January 26 it had identified the remains of police officer Ran Gvili, held for more than 840 days, as the last Israeli hostage in Gaza.
Trump framed demilitarization as the next deliverable after the return of all hostages, saying Hamas must be disarmed as part of the plan. Hamas has treated disarmament demands as a nonstarter in earlier negotiations, calling the idea “a red line” in April 2025.
Detailed negotiations on phase two, including demilitarization, are scheduled to begin this week, with public statements from Washington and Hamas still flatly opposed on whether any arms handover has been agreed.
