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Hamas ready to join Palestinian ‘national army’ if statehood achieved: Official

The Cradle | April 25, 2024

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said in an interview published on 25 April that the group could potentially join forces with a Palestinian national army in the event that Palestine is recognized as a state.

“All the experiences of people who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and obtained their rights and their state, what have these forces done? They have turned into political parties and their defending fighting forces have turned into the national army,” Hayya told AP.

He also said that Hamas would be willing to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank with the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Fatah party, on the condition of a “fully sovereign Palestinian state” on pre-1967 borders and “the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions.”

He added that Hamas would be willing to “live in a state and establish a ceasefire for five years or more in order to live in security.”

Hayya said that Hamas has offered this solution repeatedly over the years.

“Today, Israel has hit the resistance with great blows, but has not ended it … they have not destroyed more than 20 percent of its capabilities … If they can’t finish [Hamas] off, what is the solution? The solution is to go to consensus.”

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and all its combat capabilities at the start of the war but has so far failed to achieve this goal. The Israeli army is now planning to invade the overcrowded southern city of Rafah, which it says is Hamas’ last stronghold. Nonetheless, the resistance group remains entrenched across Gaza with several other factions.

The US has been pushing the idea of a ‘reformed’ PA assuming control over post-war Gaza. The plan, which Hamas has rejected, would depend on the resistance group’s defeat and the end of its political leadership in the strip.

Washington recently vetoed a resolution for the recognition of Palestine as a full UN member state.

Dozens of Israeli prisoners, including high-ranking army officers, are still being held by Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades.

The interview comes as truce negotiations remain stalemated by Israel’s repeated rejection of Hamas’ main terms, which the resistance group continues to hold fast. These terms include an end to the war and a permanent ceasefire, a withdrawal of all troops from Gaza, a return of the displaced to their homes, and reconstruction of the strip.

“If we are not assured the war will end, why would we hand over the prisoners?” Hayya told AP.

April 25, 2024 - Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , ,

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