Hamas Confirms Qassam Brigades Arsenal Excluded From Any Handover; IDF Rejects Proposal

On April 20, 2026, the Jerusalem Post published detailed reporting confirming that Hamas's proposed limited handover of police and internal security weapons explicitly preserved the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' full military arsenal, including rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles, and tunnel infrastructure. Hamas officials stated that governance transfers to the Board of Peace's technocratic committee were being coordinated for civilian services — but that the Qassam Brigades' weapons would not be included in any near-term arrangement. The IDF rejected any proposal to merely 'store' rather than surrender weapons, insisting that full military disarmament was non-negotiable and that partial handovers would not unlock reconstruction funding or IDF withdrawal. The FDD documented Hamas's continued refusal to disarm its military wing as placing the Gaza ceasefire 'in jeopardy.' Despite the impasse, Cairo backchannel contacts between Hamas, US, Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators were reported to be continuing. The structural gap — Hamas's demand for a political pathway to statehood before disarmament versus the Board of Peace's requirement of disarmament before political progress — remained unresolved.