Hamas rejects international role in 'internal affairs,' signals openness to Gaza peacekeeping force

A Hamas spokesman announced on Friday that it would accept an international peacekeeping force in Gaza but opposed an international role in its “internal affairs.”

“Our position on international forces is clear: we want peacekeeping forces that monitor the ceasefire, ensure its implementation, and act as a buffer between the occupation army and our people in the Gaza Strip, without interfering in Gaza’s internal affairs,” Hazem Qassem said in an interview with the AFP news agency.

Hamas leaders were previously opposed to the deployment of an international stabilization force in Gaza.

The Trump administration brokered a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel last October. The so-called Yellow Line currently divides the Gaza Strip into roughly two equal parts, one controlled by Israeli forces and the other by Hamas.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled that he aims to advance the Gaza ceasefire process, which includes the dismantling of Hamas as a military force.

“Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression,” Hamas said on Thursday, referring to Israeli military operations in Gaza.

The terror group also demanded the “lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people’s legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination.”

Since October 2025, Israeli forces have responded to multiple ceasefire violations by Hamas members who have attempted to cross the Yellow Line.

On Thursday, Trump convened the first ‘Board of Peace’ meeting in Washington, D.C. Some Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo and Kazakhstan, have agreed to dispatch thousands of troops to join the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is tasked with maintaining long-term stability in the Gaza Strip.

The residents of Gaza are reportedly skeptical of having international forces in their territory.

“Trump is merely a military force imposing his views on the world, and this security council, which he boasts about, is another gateway to the occupation of Palestine, another face of the Zionist occupation,” one resident, Farid Abu Odeh, said in the AFP interview.

The Gaza ceasefire stipulates that Hamas must disarm before Israeli forces withdraw from the territory. However, Hamas has so far refused to lay down its weapons.

The countries that have pledged troops to the ISF have emphasized that their forces will not engage Hamas combatants in Gaza. Israel has indicated that it would resort to military action to disarm Hamas if diplomatic efforts by the international community do not succeed.

“Hamas must be disarmed. That includes all its weapons; its terror infrastructure, underground tunnel network and weapons production facilities must all be dismantled. As the plan emphasizes, there must also be a fundamental deradicalization process. The infrastructure that indoctrinates Palestinian children to hate and kill Jews, in educational and religious institutions, should no longer exist,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said during the Board of Peace meeting.