Hamas weapons will be deposited with Egypt in Cairo’s reported plan to disarm group

Egypt is reportedly proposing that Hamas’s weaponry be transferred over to Cairo for an unspecified amount of time as part of efforts to disarm the terror group during post-war reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The initiative will also be coupled with Egypt’s public plan for a temporary government of Palestinian technocrats running the strip for several years after the war under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

While Hamas has largely agreed to the latter idea, as it has expressed willingness to cede control of the Strip to independent Palestinian technocrats, giving up its weapons has been a red line for the terror group that Arab officials have indicated will be difficult to accomplish unless done gradually and as part of an initiative that establishes a political horizon for Palestinian statehood.

Hamas to date has publicly ruled out giving up its weapons, ostensibly seeking to secure the pre-2024 scenario that Hezbollah enjoyed in Lebanon where it didn’t have a formal role in the government’s leadership but had effective veto power over decisions due to its heavy arsenal.

Arab states, on the other hand, are envisioning a post-2024 Lebanon scenario for Gaza where an alternative PA-linked government is installed with support from neighboring Arab countries to stabilize the Strip by gradually working to disarm and marginalize what is left of Hamas.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has ruled out a role for the PA in post-war Gaza, a condition that risks leaving Israel alone to run the Strip and provide services to its roughly 2 million Palestinians.