Global & US Headlines
Hamas Floats Weapons Freeze; Israel Rebuffs Ahead of Phase-2 Gaza Ceasefire
On 11 Dec 2025 Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal publicly offered to store—but not surrender—the group’s weapons, and within hours Israeli officials reiterated that Gaza’s 20-point US peace plan requires Hamas’ complete disarmament before the next phase can start.
Focusing Facts
- Meshaal’s proposal aired on Al Jazeera 11 Dec 2025, framing a temporary “freeze or storage” of arms as acceptable to mediators and the US.
- An Israeli official told AFP the same day that "Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza demilitarised" under the Trump-brokered 20-point plan, rejecting the freeze idea.
- Prime Minister Netanyahu is slated to meet President Trump in Washington on 29 Dec 2025 to decide whether Phase 2—Israeli pull-back and deployment of an International Stabilisation Force—can proceed.
Context
Arm-decommission debates have scuttled or prolonged conflicts before: the IRA took seven years after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to fully decommission, while Colombia’s FARC surrendered arms only under intense verification in 2017. Hamas’ ‘freeze’ echoes those halfway steps, signalling tactical flexibility without strategic capitulation. Long-term, the standoff highlights two enduring patterns: (1) Non-state actors trade arms for political legitimacy only when external guarantors credibly protect them; (2) Israel links territorial concessions to absolute security guarantees it rarely trusts outsiders to enforce. Whether an international force can square that circle will shape Gaza’s governance for decades. If disarmament stalls, Gaza could resemble post-2006 Southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah kept its arsenal under UNIFIL’s watch, entrenching a frozen conflict. Conversely, a verified hand-over could be the first demilitarisation of a major Palestinian faction since the PLO’s 1993 Oslo shift—an outcome that would reverberate across the next century of Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Perspectives
Right-leaning Israeli media
The Algemeiner, Arutz Sheva, Jewish News Syndicate, The Times of Israel — They portray Hamas and other Iran-backed militants as an urgent, growing security threat that must be met with robust IDF action and complete disarmament, while some settlers call for renewed Jewish presence inside Gaza. Coverage centres Israeli security and settlement narratives, largely omitting Palestinian civilian costs and international legal objections, thereby reinforcing hawkish policy preferences.
Arab and Turkish outlets sympathetic to Palestinian resistance
TRT World, Middle East Monitor — They present Khaled Meshaal’s ‘weapons freeze’ as a pragmatic compromise that safeguards Palestinians’ right to defend themselves and prevents renewed Israeli aggression. Stories highlight Hamas’s reasonableness and cast Israel and the U.S. as the intransigent parties, downplaying the dangers Hamas armaments pose to Israeli civilians and internal dissent in Gaza.
Pan-Arab and other international outlets covering diplomacy
Asharq Al-Awsat, France 24, The Manila Times — They frame the standoff over Hamas disarmament versus a weapons freeze as the key obstacle in the U.S.-backed cease-fire roadmap, quoting both Hamas overtures and Israel’s refusal. A striving for balance leans heavily on official statements and may obscure on-the-ground power imbalances or humanitarian details, giving the dispute a procedural tone.