The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) set a condition for laying down its weapons to the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, amid threats from the United States and Israel.

Ramallah.- “Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and aggression; if these end, the weapons will return to the State,” Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya affirmed in an interview with Al Jazeera television.

However, the Islamist group’s chief negotiator emphasized that the issue is under discussion with other Palestinian factions and the international mediators who participated in the recent ceasefire deal.

He estimated that Israel failed to achieve its war goals in Gaza, which has been devastated by the conflict over the last two years, and where more than 68,000 people have died due to the attacks.

Al-Hayya affirmed that neither Hamas nor the other Palestinian groups will give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an excuse to resume his military operations in the coastal enclave. (PL)