Senior Hamas dignitary, Khalil al-Hayya, asserts that his organisation is willing to endorse a five-year cessation of hostilities with Israel and decommission its military faction, choosing to operate solely as a political entity if a sovereign Palestinian nation is established in line with pre-1967 borders.
Mr Hayya stated that Palestinian refugees would repatriate to this newly formed nation “based on international rulings” and that Hamas’s forces would “transition into the national army”. Mr Hayya, elected in 2006 to the disbanded Palestinian legislative council and the current deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, proposed that Hamas would emulate others who battled “against occupiers before their independence and acquisition of their country and rights.”
Despite international pressures, Israel remains restrained about implementing a two-state resolution to solve the Arab-Israeli dispute.
Mr Hayya’s announcement restates Hamas’s 2017 commitment to supersede its initial objectives of replacing Israel with an Islamic state and to accept a state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Furthermore, Hamas guaranteed to uphold agreements brokered between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel. However, this significant revision has not been broadly accepted.
Until a Palestinian state materialises, Mr Hayya reiterated the long-standing Hamas demand to engage in the PLO, primarily controlled by their rival, Fatah, and contribute to a unified administration for Gaza and the West Bank.
Against Israel’s projected raid in Rafah, where more than 50% of the Gaza population of 2.3 million has sought sanctuary, Mr Hayya declared that such actions would not lead to Hamas’s defeat. He maintained that communication routes between political leaders residing away from Gaza and military leaders within Gaza are”continuous”, and “consultations take place concerning contacts, decisions and directions.”
Mr Hayya stated that during the drawn-out seven-month Gaza conflict, Israel only managed to eradicate “no more than 20% of Hamas’s capabilities, both manpower and on the field”. He added, “If they fail to defeat Hamas, then what is the solution? The solution lies in reaching a common agreement.”
Regarding ongoing discussions on Gaza, under mediation by Qatar and Egypt, Mr. Hayya reiterated the demand of Hamas for a lasting ceasefire and Israel’s troop withdrawal from Gaza before the release of Israel’s hostages. He also alerted about probable Hamas attacks on non-Palestinian forces entering Gaza, including US troops engrossed in humanitarian aid delivery construction off the coast.
Attempts by Israel to eliminate Hamas, he warned, would be unsuccessful and if the dispute remains unresolved, Palestinians are prepared to stage additional revolts. During an earlier conversation, Mr Hayya made no apologies for the attack on Israel on October 7th. The aim was to shift the entire situation, not merely provoke a conflict, he explained. He believes their actions have successfully revived the Palestinian issue to prominence and consequently, there is unrest in the region.
Another senior member of Hamas contradicted claims made by Israel that Gaza’s Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, is confined in a network of tunnels underneath the strip. According to an interview with the London-based New Arab magazine, Sinwar has appeared in public recently on several occasions, indicating that he is not detached from the situation. The source regarded Sinwar as the architect of the October 7th attack, which resulted in 1,200 fatalities and the abduction of 253 people as per Israeli records.
Neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority have responded to the comments made by Mr Hayya in interviews he conducted with the Associated Press, the New Arab Magazine in London, and Asharq News in Dubai.