DOHA, Qatar — Hamas is ready to discuss “freezing or storing” its arsenal of weapons as part of its ceasefire with Israel, a senior official in the terror group said Sunday, offering a possible formula to resolve one of the thorniest issues in the US-brokered truce in Gaza.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s decision-making political bureau, spoke as the sides prepare to move into the second and more complicated phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the enclave.

“We are open to have a comprehensive approach in order to avoid further escalations or in order to avoid any further clashes or explosions,” Naim told The Associated Press in Qatar’s capital, Doha, where much of the group’s leadership is located.

The ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, followed two years of war in Gaza launched by the Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Asked whether that attack was a mistake, Naim defended it as an “act of defense.”

The ceasefire agreement required Hamas to return all living and deceased hostages it was holding, in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners. With the remains of only one hostage still held in Gaza — Israeli policeman Ran Gvili, who was killed in the October 7 attack — the sides are preparing to enter the second phase of the US-backed plan.

The new phase aims to lay out a future for war-battered Gaza and promises to be even more difficult — including steps such as the deployment of a multinational security force, the formation of a technocratic Palestinian governing committee in Gaza, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the disarmament of Hamas. An international board, led by US President Donald Trump, is to oversee the implementation of the deal and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel has demanded Hamas’s disarmament, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to accomplish “the hard way” if the terror group refuses to give up its weapons. Naim said Hamas retains its “right to resist,” but claimed that the group is ready to lay down its arms as part of a process aimed at leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Naim gave few details on how this might work, but suggested a long-term truce of five or 10 years for discussions to take place.

“This time has to be used seriously and in a comprehensive way,” he said, adding that Hamas is “very open-minded” about what to do with its weapons.

“We can talk about freezing or storing or laying down, with the Palestinian guarantees, not to use it at all during this ceasefire time or truce,” he said.

It is not clear whether the offer would meet Israel’s demands for full disarmament.

The elements of the second phase are included in the 20-point plan presented by Trump, with international “guarantor” nations, in October. The plan, later adopted by the UN Security Council, offered a general way forward. But it was vague on details or timelines and will require painstaking negotiations involving the US and the guarantors, which include Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

“The plan is in need of a lot of clarifications,” Naim said.

One of the most immediate issues is deployment of the so-called International Stabilization Force. Several countries, including Indonesia, have expressed a willingness to contribute troops to the force, but its exact makeup, command structure and responsibilities have not been defined. US officials say they expect “boots on the ground” early next year.

One key question is whether the force will take on the issue of disarmament.

Naim said this would be unacceptable to Hamas, and that the group expects the force to monitor the agreement.

“We are welcoming a UN force to be near the borders, supervising the ceasefire agreement, reporting about violations, preventing any kind of escalations,” he said. “But we don’t accept that these forces have any kind of mandates authorizing them to do or to be implemented inside the Palestinian territories.”

In one sign of progress, Naim said Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority are moving forward on the formation of the new technocratic committee set to run Gaza’s daily affairs. He said they have agreed upon a Palestinian cabinet minister who lives in the West Bank, but is originally from Gaza, to head the committee. He did not give the official’s name, but Hamas officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, have identified him as Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated violations of the deal during the first phase. Israel has accused Hamas of dragging out the hostage returns, while Palestinian health officials claim that more than 370 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect.

Israel says its strikes have been in response to Palestinian violations of the truce, including the movement of operatives into the Israeli-held half of Gaza. Three IDF soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hamas gunmen that Israeli and Egyptian officials say were holed up underground in Israeli-held territory.

Naim said Hamas was “not aware” of these gunmen when the ceasefire was signed, and that communications with them were “totally cut.”

“Therefore, they are not aware about what’s going on now on the ground,” he said.

He claimed that Israel has rejected Hamas’s offers to resolve the standoff and added numerous “conditions” to the operatives’ surrender. Israel has not acknowledged the negotiations and says it has killed several dozen of the operatives in multiple clashes over the past two months.

Naim said Hamas is committed to “fulfilling its obligations” and claimed that Israel has fallen short of key pledges, including by not flooding Gaza with humanitarian supplies and failing to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Most of the supplies entering Gaza, he said, are goods for private merchants to sell to the few people in Gaza with money, leaving masses of poor people struggling without food or shelter.

Last week, Israel said it was ready to reopen Rafah, but only for people to leave the Strip. Egypt and the Palestinians fear this is part of a plot to expel Gaza’s Palestinians and said that Israel is obligated to open the crossing in both directions.

Naim acknowledged the Palestinians have paid a heavy price for the October 7 attack, but when asked if the group regrets carrying it out, he insisted it came in response to years of Israeli policies going back to Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.

“History didn’t start on October 7,” he said. “October 7 for us, it was an act of defense. We have done our duty to raise… the voice of our people.”