Hamas on Saturday firmly denied that it was willing to disarm, contradicting remarks made by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff during his meeting with Israeli hostage families in Tel Aviv.
In a strongly worded statement, Hamas said, “The resistance and its weapons will not be abandoned until our full national rights are restored, foremost among which is the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Witkoff told demonstrators in Tel Aviv that "Hamas has said that they are prepared to be demilitarized" and claimed that “multiple Arab governments are now demanding that Hamas demilitarize,” suggesting that a solution to end the Gaza conflict was close. His comments were reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Hamas swiftly rejected those assertions, describing Witkoff's visit to Gaza a day earlier as “a pre-scripted theatrical performance designed to mislead public opinion, whitewash the occupation's image, and provide political cover for its starvation policies and systematic killing of innocent children and civilians in Gaza.”
The group further accused the U.S. administration of being "fully complicit in these starvation crimes," after Witkoff toured a controversial aid distribution facility run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza.
The developments come as efforts to broker a ceasefire continue to stall, with both sides blaming each other for the lack of progress.
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President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that the long-awaited “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction has officially been formed.
Hamas is set to cede power in Gaza, as a U.S.-backed Palestinian committee prepares to take over the administration of the territory, Palestinian sources reported.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet say they carried out targeted strikes on Hamas operatives and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip on Thursday (8 January) after detecting a failed rocket launch from the Gaza City area.
Israeli air strikes in Gaza and Lebanon have raised fresh concerns about the durability of ceasefire agreements, after deadly attacks were reported in both territories.
Firefighters were clearing the charred ruins of a Karachi shopping mall in Pakistan on Tuesday (20 January) as they searched for people still missing after a fire that burned for nearly two days and killed at least 67 people, police said.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States has an "armada" heading toward Iran but hoped he would not have to use it, as he renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Türkiye opposes any form of foreign intervention in Iran, as protests and economic pressures continue to fuel tensions in the Islamic republic.
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Iran will treat any military attack as an “all-out war,” a senior Iranian official said on Friday, as the United States moves additional naval and air assets into the Middle East amid rising tensions.
U.S. President Donald Trump thanked Azerbaijan and Armenia for upholding last August’s peace deal and said Vice President J.D. Vance will visit both countries in February.
An international photography exhibition by world-renowned photojournalist Reza Deghati, known globally as REZA, is offering travellers a powerful visual introduction to Azerbaijan at Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
Trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan reached $33.4m in 2025, almost three times higher than the previous year, according to data from Tajikistan’s Customs Service.
The recent peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan has reignited a sensitive debate in Georgia: does regional normalisation strengthen Georgia’s position or threaten its long-standing role as the South Caucasus’ key transit hub?
The Turkish Defence Ministry has called for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)’s “unconditional compliance” with the 18 January ceasefire agreement between the Kurdish-led militant group and Damascus.
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