Egyptian foreign minister: Hamas’s disarmament is a Palestinian matter

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aaty tells the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that “the handing over of Hamas’s weapons is an issue that must be addressed within a Palestinian framework.”

In the interview, he expresses hope that the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatus would assume the task of controlling Gaza after a transitional period, framing this as a political horizon toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Abdel Aaty also says that Egypt seeks to define the limits of authority for the international force expected to enter the Strip under the Trump plan, adding that eventually the same force would also need to enter the West Bank to link the two areas — Gaza and the West Bank — and to support the Palestinian Authority’s security mechanisms.