Hamas leader Khaled Mashal tells Turkish conference they will not disarm or accept international force

The head of Hamas' political bureau abroad, Khaled Mashal, reiterated the group’s rejection of all forms of external guardianship over the Gaza Strip, saying that the Palestinians are the only legitimate governing authority. 

Mashal’s statements, delivered on Saturday at the "Covenant to Jerusalem: Towards Renewing the Nation's Will in the Face of Liquidation and Annihilation" conference held in Istanbul, sharpened Hamas’ opposition the peace plan of U.S. President Donald Trump. 

“We reject all forms of guardianship over Gaza; the Palestinians are the ones who govern themselves,” Mashal told the conference. 

The Hamas official also accused Israel of being the aggressor in the Middle East. 

“Israeli aggression seeks to subjugate the region to its agenda, and this is a real danger,” Mashal stated, speaking of the necessity of “protecting the resistance project and its weapons, saving the West Bank from Judaization, settlement expansion, and displacement, and standing with our people.” 

The Hamas leader was unrepentant in his call for further military action to “liberate” the city of Jerusalem, and called on others to join an “alliance” to accomplish this task. 

“The time has come for the ummah (a reference to the entire Muslim community) to decide on the liberation of Jerusalem as a symbol of the liberation of Palestine, the purification of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the recovery of the Islamic and Christian holy sites,” Mashal said in his opening remarks. “The true alliance for Jerusalem is its liberation. This is the central project. This is how the nation has remembered itself throughout history.” 

The senior Hamas official also stated that “the [Palestinian] resistance project and its weapons must be protected. This is the right of our people to defend themselves. The resistance and its weapons are the honor and strength of the nation.” 

⭕️ The head of the Hamas movement abroad, Khaled Mashaal:

- The resistance project and its weapons must be protected.

- The West Bank must be saved from Judaization, settlements, displacement, and we must stand by our people.

- Efforts must be made to free prisoners and… pic.twitter.com/spwek1ieH8

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) December 6, 2025

He justified the decision to hold on to their weapons, asking “Which country in the world maintains its independence, its borders and its interests without force.” 

Calling on the Muslim nations to partner with the Palestinians, Mashal demanded that Muslim countries join legal efforts to bring Israeli leaders before world bodies on charges of war crimes. 

Mashal’s comments come as the U.S. is trying to move forward with the second phase of the peace deal, despite the fact that Hamas has not handed over all the hostage remains, or agreed to disarming, as called for in the Trump peace plan. 

The Foreign Ministry posted posted a clip of Mashal’s comments to 𝕏, saying, “Hamas is making a mockery of President Trump’s peace plan.” 

Further proof that Hamas is repeatedly violating the ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/46jCx0AXy4

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) December 6, 2025

The ministry noted that the rejection of disarmament and a temporary governing authority are “core terms of the peace plan itself.” 

Some Arab media channels attempted to present Mashal’s statements as actually agreeing to the peace plan, by noting that he spoke of handing over its weapons to a legitimate Palestinian government. 

Since Hamas would likely be a significant part of any unity government, based on recent polls which show the group having more support among Palestinians than the Palestinian Authority, the statement does not represent a handing over of weapons to an outside authority, as called for in the peace plan. 

On Saturday evening, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yiftach Ron Tal told Channel 14, that if there is no immediate progress in disarming Hamas, Israel will likely launch an offensive campaign against the terror group in the near future. 

Maj. Gen. Tal told Channel 14 that if the process of disarming Hamas does not begin soon, “the IDF will act offensively, I am convinced of this. The timetable is a few weeks – maybe even less than that.” 

“I do not see a situation where we can truly continue in a way in which we do not advance to the next stages of the agreement,” Tal continued. 

Additionally, Dr. Yehuda Balanga, an expert on relations between Middle Eastern countries and the superpower nations, told Channel 14, “The alternative is to convey a message to the Americans that we need support to gradually strangle Hamas economically, and certainly militarily as well.” 

With President Trump eager to see his peace plan progress, the U.S. has begun to increasingly pressure Israel to make concessions, much as previous U.S. administrations have done. Most Israeli politicians, across the political spectrum, oppose making any security concessions in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas.