Hamas said on Saturday that it would not lay down arms unless an independent Palestinian state is established. In a statement, the Palestinian militant faction said its "armed resistance ... cannot be relinquished except through the full restoration of our national rights,

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.

Saudi Arabia and France issued the "New York Declaration," which was backed by the Arab League, Qatar and Egypt.