GAZA, Gaza Strip -- A senior Hamas leader has rejected Israel's demand that the group be disarmed as a condition for ending the long-running blockade of the Gaza Strip and permitting the opening of an air and seaport there.

Ismail Haniyeh told a gathering on Friday near Gaza City that "we cannot accept or deal with any international decision to disarm the resistance" -- a reference to Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.

Israel has said it will press for Hamas' disarmament in indirect talks in Cairo aimed at charting a way forward for Gaza in the wake of a 50-day war that killed more than 2,200 people -- almost all Palestinian. The fighting ended Aug. 26.