The surprise declaration, endorsed on Tuesday by the 22 member nations of the Arab League, also condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, which set off the devastating war in Gaza. The statement came at a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to end the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Arab and Muslim states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have for the first time issued a joint call for Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in the Gaza Strip as part of efforts to end the war in the territory.

A declaration issued on Tuesday by Saudi Arabia and France, backed by Egypt, Qatar and the Arab League, called for Hamas to disarm and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority Hamas said Palestinian resistance will not stop until "the occupation" ends and an independent,