Khaled Mashaal, the former chief of Hamas and current head of its diaspora office, stood before the 17th Al Jazeera Forum in Doha on Sunday and torched the core demand of President Trump's Gaza peace framework: disarmament. The U.S.-designated terrorist leader rejected any surrender of weapons, any international oversight, and any governance structure not run by Palestinians, which, in Hamas's vocabulary, means Hamas.

Mashaal delivered his refusal in the language of national liberation:

"Criminalizing the resistance, its weapons, and those who carried it out is something we should not accept."

He wasn't freelancing. This tracks with what senior Hamas figure Musa Abu Marzouk said in January — that the group "never, for a single moment" agreed to surrender its weapons, despite repeated U.S. assertions to the contrary.

So much for ambiguity.

A Wanted Man With a Microphone

As Breitbart reported, Mashaal is wanted in the United States on terrorism, murder-conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion charges connected to his role in planning the October 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel. He chose the Al Jazeera Forum — a platform Israel's Foreign Ministry has condemned as a gathering for extremists — to praise that very attack, arguing it thrust the "Palestinian cause" back onto the global stage.

That framing tells you everything about how Hamas views diplomacy. October 7 wasn't a catastrophe to be accounted for. It was a branding exercise. And the man who helped orchestrate it is now lecturing the world on sovereignty from a Doha stage.

This wasn't Mashaal's first turn at the podium. Back in December, speaking in Istanbul, he declared:

"The resistance and its weapons are our honor and glory."

Sunday's performance was the policy version of that sermon. He warned against the international governance mechanisms envisioned under Trump's plan, rejecting any outside administration or stabilization force in Gaza. He urged supporters to "pursue Israel" diplomatically and politically. And he described Qatar's backing of the Palestinian cause as "honorable" — a nod to his hosts that doubled as a signal about who Hamas sees as its real partners going forward.

The Trump Framework and What It Demands

President Trump's 20-point peace framework ties Gaza's reconstruction to verified demilitarization. Under the plan, an International Stabilization Force and a Palestinian technocratic committee would take over governance once Hamas's arsenal is dismantled and its terror infrastructure destroyed. Phase Two of that framework is now moving toward implementation, with the White House planning a major event next week to advance the next stage.

Trump has been explicit about the stakes. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, he put it plainly:

"If they don't do it, they'll be blown away very quickly."

That's not a diplomatic pleasantry. It's a deadline with teeth. Israeli officials have warned that if Hamas refuses to disarm, military operations could resume, while reconstruction and aid would proceed only in terror-free zones. The framework doesn't ask Hamas to evolve. It asks Hamas to cease to exist as a military entity — and that distinction is exactly what Mashaal rejected.

The Truce That Isn't a Concession

Mashaal also suggested a kind of counteroffer: a long-term ceasefire with Israel lasting between five and ten years, backed by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey as guarantors. Under the proposal, Hamas would agree not to deploy its weapons while still retaining them. He described the idea in careful terms, saying the arrangement would ensure that the weapons remained unused.

Read that again. A U.S.-designated terrorist organization, whose leader is wanted on murder-conspiracy charges, is offering to pinky-swear it won't use the arsenal it built to massacre civilians — and expects the international community to call that peace.

This is the oldest trick in the terrorist negotiating playbook. Keep the weapons, promise restraint, buy time to rearm and recruit, then blame the other side when the truce collapses. Hamas isn't proposing peace. It's proposing a pause — on its terms, with its guns intact.

Self-Governance or Self-Preservation?

The rhetorical centerpiece of Mashaal's speech was sovereignty:

"Palestinians are to govern Palestinians. Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza and to Palestine. We will not accept foreign rule."

On the surface, that sounds like a reasonable nationalist claim. Peel it back, and the contradiction is glaring. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and other governments. It seized control of Gaza not through elections but through force. And the man making this declaration about self-governance lives in Doha — not Gaza — while urging foreign governments like Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to guarantee his group's right to stay armed.

Foreign money. Foreign sanctuary. Foreign guarantors. But no "foreign rule."

The sovereignty language is for the cameras. The weapons are for the street.

What Mashaal Really Rejected

He did not single out one clause or argue over implementation timelines. He turned down the Trump plan as a whole, rejecting its underlying structure.

Disarmament was cast as an effort to criminalize the resistance. International oversight was framed as a form of guardianship and a revival of the mandate system. Any external governing arrangement was dismissed outright. Any proposal that would remove Hamas from power was treated as an attack on Palestinian identity.

Mashaal closed with language that sounded principled but effectively blocked compromise. He said, "We adhere to our national principles and reject the logic of guardianship, external intervention, or the return of a mandate in any form."

Every avenue the Trump framework opens, Mashaal slammed shut.

What Comes Next

The White House now faces a clean test. Trump laid out the terms. Hamas rejected them — publicly, repeatedly, and through multiple senior figures. Phase Two moves forward next week. The question isn't whether Hamas will cooperate. Mashaal just answered that from a stage in Doha. The question is what enforcement looks like when a terrorist group treats a peace plan like a suggestion.

Trump promised consequences. Israeli officials have signaled readiness to resume military operations. And Hamas's leadership — safe in their diaspora offices, far from the rubble they helped create — just told two million Gazans that the guns matter more than reconstruction.

That's not resistance. That's hostage-taking by another name.