Hamas said on Saturday that it will not surrender its weapons until an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is established, calling its arsenal a “national and legal right” for as long as Israeli occupation persists. The declaration followed comments by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who told families of Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv that Hamas had shown willingness to demilitarise and that several Arab governments were demanding it. Hamas rejected Witkoff’s remarks as “misleading,” accusing the envoy of providing political cover for Israel’s military campaign and what it described as starvation tactics in Gaza. Hamas’s stance underscores the impasse in indirect negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt aimed at securing a 60-day cease-fire and a hostage-release deal. Israel insists Hamas must disarm before any agreement, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, a position later backed by a non-binding Knesset resolution. The war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel’s subsequent offensive has left more than 60,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health authorities, and pushed the enclave toward famine, deepening the diplomatic deadlock over how to end the conflict.