Hamas Refuses Any Discussion on its Weapons

A member of the Palestinian security forces, loyal to Hamas, stands guard as men set up a barbed wire on the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
A member of the Palestinian security forces, loyal to Hamas, stands guard as men set up a barbed wire on the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
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Hamas Refuses Any Discussion on its Weapons

A member of the Palestinian security forces, loyal to Hamas, stands guard as men set up a barbed wire on the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
A member of the Palestinian security forces, loyal to Hamas, stands guard as men set up a barbed wire on the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters)

Days before the Palestinian Authority was set to assume full control of the Gaza Strip in accordance with a reconciliation deal signed in October, the Palestinian Hamas movement announced on Monday that it will not allow any debate over its possession of arms.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told reporters in Gaza: “These weapons will not be touched. It's not for debate or talk.”

“These weapons will move to the West Bank to confront the occupation. It is our right to resist the occupation until the very end,” he declared.

“These weapons are our dignity and pride. They are a red line,” he continued,

“Neither the United States nor any other power can eliminate them,” Hayya stressed.

“We urge all political powers to stop talking about the resistance’s weapons,” he demanded.

“We are prepared for the security aspect of the reconciliation deal,” he said without elaborating, knowing that the October reconciliation did not include details on security.

The reconciliation signed in Cairo last month ended a decade of division between Hamas and Fatah.

Among the agreements reached in the deal was the transfer of power over the Gaza Strip from Hamas to Fatah.

Hayya stressed that Hamas will continue with the implementation of the reconciliation, demanding that the government end its “punishing” measures in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority had, months prior to the deal, taken a series of measures aimed at pressuring Hamas to reconciliation. They included salary cuts to employees hired by Hamas to run Gaza.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.