The condition that Hamas gave to Israel to end the Gaza conflict

Last Updated on April 26, 2024 3:20 am

Hamas is ready for a ceasefire of five years or more. It is even prepared to abolish the armed wing and operate as a full-fledged political party. However, the condition is that Israel must accept the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, Hamas said.

Khalil al-Hayer, deputy head of Hamas, said these things in an interview given to the Associated Press (AP).

This condition was expressed at a time when the ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel are at a standstill. Al-Hayya is leading Hamas in ceasefire talks brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

Speaking to the AP in Istanbul, al-Hayya said Hamas wants to join the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or PLO, led by rival Fatah, in forming a unity government in Gaza and the West Bank. At this time he mentioned that his party is ready to lay down arms subject to conditions.

He said, ‘Hamas follows Israel’s 1967 borders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to form a fully sovereign Palestinian state and comply with the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with international resolutions. And if that happens, the military wing of Hamas will be abolished.

One of the top leaders of Hamas said, “Those who fought against the occupiers and became independent, got their rights and state – what did those forces do?” They have become political parties and the armed forces protecting them have become the national army.’

Over the years, Hamas has sometimes moderated its public stance on the possibility of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. But its political program still formally “rejects any option for the full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea”—referring to the area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which includes the land that now constitutes Israel.