Hamas would “lay down its weapons” if an independent Palestinian state is created

Istanbul. A senior Hamas political official told The Associated Press that the Islamic insurgent group is willing to agree to a five-year or longer truce with Israel and to lay down its arms and become a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established on the previous borders. to 1967.

Khalil al-Hayya’s statements in an interview on Wednesday coincide with the stalemate in ceasefire negotiations, which have been underway for months. The suggestion of possible disarmament appeared to be a major concession from the group, which is officially committed to the destruction of Israel.

But Israel is unlikely to consider that scenario. After the deadly Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war, he vowed to crush Hamas and his current government is adamantly opposed to creating a Palestinian state in territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official who represented the Palestinian insurgents in negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, adopted a tone that was sometimes defiant and sometimes more conciliatory.

Speaking to the AP in Istanbul, Al-Hayya said Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by the rival Fatah faction, to form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank. He stated that his group would accept “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with international resolutions” along Israel’s pre-1967 border.

If this were to happen, he noted, Hamas’s military wing would dissolve.