Report: US wants to postpone effort to disarm Hamas until after deal reached to free hostages, end war

The Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed reports that in the past two days, senior US officials have changed their stance regarding the disarmament of Hamas.

According to the report, the US officials have conveyed their decision to postpone dealing with the issue until after an agreement has been reached to end the war.

Al-Araby also reports that the US believes the Israeli demand to expel all members of Hamas’s military wing from the Gaza Strip is unrealistic, due to the large number of fighters and the lack of willingness from other countries to accept them.

Moreover, al-Araby reports that the US does not believe Israel’s policy of using more military force to release the remaining hostages will work. Instead, the US is working toward a deal that secures the release of all 59 hostages in one batch. Hamas has offered to do this if Israel agrees to permanently end the war — something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to do, arguing that it leaves Hamas in power.

There is no confirmation of the Al-Araby report, which relies on a lone unnamed Egyptian source.