Hamas has denied claims that it offered to disarm as part of ceasefire negotiations with Israel, asserting its “national and legal” right to resist Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian group issued a statement on Saturday responding to comments reportedly made by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, during a meeting with families of Israeli captives held in Gaza. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Witkoff told the families—based on a recorded conversation—that Hamas had indicated it was “prepared to be demilitarised.”

Hamas firmly rejected the claim, stating: “The resistance and its weapons are a national and legal right as long as the occupation continues.”

“This right cannot be surrendered,” the statement continued, “until all of our national demands are met—chief among them, the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”