Qatar has ordered senior Hamas figures living in Doha to surrender their personal weapons, several media outlets including The Times reported on 3 July. The directive was delivered by Qatari mediators to members of the movement’s political bureau, which has been based in the Gulf state since 2012. Those told to disarm include chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, founding West Bank commander Zaher Jabarin and Shura Council head Muhammad Ismail Darwish. The step is viewed as largely symbolic but is intended to signal Hamas’s readiness to move toward disarmament—one of Israel’s core demands—during talks aimed at ending the nine-month Gaza war. The move coincides with a U.S.-brokered proposal that would pause fighting for 60 days, allow the release of some Israeli hostages in stages and see Palestinian prisoners freed in return. Israel has signaled acceptance of the outline; Hamas said it is still studying the offer. Qatar, which has long played go-between for the two sides, is intensifying pressure on the exiled leadership as negotiators seek to convert the temporary truce into a broader cease-fire arrangement.