A leader of Hamas has told The Associated Press that the group is willing to stop fighting with Israel for five years or longer. They said they would give up their weapons and become a political party if a new country for Palestinians is created using the borders from before 1967.
Khalil al-Hayya made comments during an interview on Wednesday. This happened while there was no progress in negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza after many months. Hamas seemed to agree to a big change by saying they would give up their weapons, even though they have always been against Israel.
But it’s doubtful that Israel would think about that happening. It promised to defeat Hamas after the October attack that killed people. The war started because of 7 attacks. The current leaders of Israel are strongly against making a Palestinian state on the land Israel took after the 1967 war.
Al-Hayya, a top member of Hamas, has been talking to try to make peace and trade hostages. He sounded strong sometimes and friendly other times.
Talking to the AP in Istanbul, Al-Hayya said Hamas wants to be part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is led by their rival Fatah faction. They want to work together to have one government for both Gaza and the West Bank. He said Hamas would agree to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Palestinian refugees able to return as per international resolutions, within Israel’s borders before 1967.
He said if that happens, the army part of the group would disappear.
“He said that the people who fought against the people who took over their land became independent and got their own rights and country. What did these groups do after that. They became political parties and their fighting forces became the national army,” he said.
Over time, Hamas has sometimes softened its public stance on the idea of a Palestinian state next to Israel. However, its political plan still officially refuses to consider any other option than complete freedom for Palestine, from the river to the sea. This means they want all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which includes the land that is now part of Israel.
Al-Hayya did not say if he supports a two-state solution to end the conflict between Palestine and Israel or if it’s just a temporary step towards their goal of destroying Israel.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority did not respond right away. The Palestinian Authority is the official government, but Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. This happened a year after winning the Palestinian parliamentary elections. After Hamas took control of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority was left in charge of running some areas in the West Bank that were partly controlled by Israel.
The Palestinian Authority wants to create its own country in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza, which were taken over by Israel in the 1967 war. Most of the world wants two separate states for Israel and Palestine, but Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, doesn’t agree with that.
The fighting in Gaza has lasted for almost seven months and talks to stop it have stopped. The war started on October with deadly battles. 7 attacks happened in the south of Israel. The people who did it were led by Hamas, and they killed about 1,200 people. Most of the people who died were not soldiers, they were regular people. Some fighters took about 250 people as hostages into a small area. The recent attacks by Israel in Gaza have resulted in the death of over 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. It has also forced 80% of Gaza’s 2. 3 million people to leave their homes.
Israel is getting ready to attack the southern city of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians have run away to.
Israel has taken down most of the initial twenty-four groups of Hamas fighters since the war began, but there are still four groups left in Rafah. Israel says they need to attack Rafah to beat Hamas.
Al-Hayya said that this attack will not destroy Hamas. He said the leaders outside of Gaza keep talking to the military leaders inside Gaza, and they make decisions together.
The Israeli forces have not destroyed most of Hamas’s abilities, both in people and in their weapons. “If they can’t defeat Hamas, what is the answer. The answer is to come to an agreement. ”
In November, there was a truce for a whole week. It led to the freeing of over 100 captives in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners that were being held in Israel. However, discussions for a long-term peace agreement and freeing the rest of the hostages are currently on hold. Both sides are blaming each other for being unwilling to cooperate. The main person talking to both sides in the conflict in Qatar said that they are thinking about changing their role as a mediator.
Many Hamas leaders who used to be in Qatar have recently left and gone to Turkey. There, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, met with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Al-Hayya said that the group’s main political office is not going to move, and Hamas wants Qatar to keep helping with the talks.
Israeli and US officials say that they don’t think Hamas is really trying to make a deal.
Al-Hayya said no, and explained that Hamas has agreed to release fewer Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining Israeli hostages. He said the group doesn’t know how many hostages are still in Gaza and alive.
But he said Hamas will not give up on what they want, which is for the fighting to stop forever and for all Israeli soldiers to leave, but Israel doesn’t want to agree to that. Israel says it will keep fighting until Hamas is completely beaten and will keep its army in Gaza for safety.
“Why should I release the prisoners if the war is not going to stop. ” the Hamas leader asked about the hostages still held.
Al-Hayya warned that Hamas might attack Israeli or other forces near a floating pier being built by the US to deliver aid to Gaza by sea.
“We strongly disagree with anyone who is not from Palestine being in Gaza, whether on the water or on the ground. We will confront any military presence in these areas, whether it’s from Israel or any other country, as they are acting like they own the place,” he said.
Al-Hayya said that Hamas does not feel sorry for the attacks on Oct 7, even though it caused a lot of damage to Gaza and its people. He said that Hamas fighters didn’t attack civilians, even though there is proof they did. He also said the attacks brought attention to the Palestinian issue.
He said that trying to get rid of Hamas would not stop Palestinians from fighting back in the future.
“Let’s say they have gotten rid of Hamas. ” “Are the Palestinian people still here. ” he wondered