HAMAS CLAIMS ‘THE CHOICE IS OURS’ ON GAZA FUTURE
▶ Senior official in Lebanon dismisses US and Israeli proposals for postwar rule of devastated enclave
Hamas is holding talks with various Palestinian factions to establish a new administration in postwar Gaza, a senior official of the militant group in Lebanon told The National, dismissing various plans suggested by the US and Israel as “unacceptable”.
These proposals included the imposition of an Israeli security presence, an Israeli-installed Palestinian civil administration and a multinational coalition to govern the coastal strip.
“We are now in dialogue with the Palestinian factions and all agree that the form of the next phase is a Palestinian national decision,” said Osama Hamdan, the senior Hamas representative in Lebanon.
“As for how and with what mechanisms, that is part of the ongoing dialogue.”
Israel has proposed several scenarios for Gaza’s postwar future, including a buffer zone. The US has pushed for renewed negotiations over a two-state solution between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and proposed Gaza be run by a revitalised Palestinian Authority – a suggestion that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.
Mr Hamdan has claimed that Israel and the US have little influence to impose their vision of a postwar Gaza.
“Israel is trying to impose their decision but the choice remains ours,” he said.
“Talk of the day after is a discussion for us as Palestinians, not an external discussion. As Palestinians, we decide.”
More than 100 days of fighting have passed since Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw them take about 240 hostages.
Since October 7, more than 24,200 people have been killed in Gaza, while the number of injured has exceeded 61,100.
A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, according to the UN, and no fully functioning hospitals remain.
Despite temporary agreements over the release of Israeli hostages and the delivery of aid to Gaza, efforts to end the war have been futile.
Talks involving the US, Egypt, Qatar and, indirectly, Hamas have failed to find the solution that would end the war.
“Our most important achievement is that the world has begun talking about the rights of Palestinians,” Mr Hamdan said. “The primary goal is the overall national issue: an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state.”
Mr Hamdan said that Hamas was aware its rule of Gaza would be challenged after its
surprise attack on October 7. “In terms of the price we have paid, we’re fighting a major battle for national liberation,” Mr Hamdan said, implying that the attack outweighed the potential end of their control over the enclave. “We were prepared to pay the price.”
Mr Hamdan envisions the next step in a postwar Gaza to be the establishment of a Palestinian “transitional interim government” to oversee relief and construction, followed by elections “in which the people elect their leadership”.
“But the resistance will certainly be at the heart of any equation,” he said.
“Hamas will remain as a partner in managing Palestinian national affairs and decisions.”
Mr Hamdan dismissed suggestions that under any potential postwar deal Hamas and leaders of Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, would be expelled.
“I’ve honestly only ever heard this in the media,” he said.
Israel has been criticised by various human rights groups, as well as the UN, for its tactics in the war in Gaza. Last week, Israel faced allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the UN’s top court, after South Africa accused it of aiming to bring about “the destruction of the population” of Gaza. Israel rejected the accusations as false and “grossly distorted”.
“No one will stop us,” Mr Netanyahu said after the hearing. “Not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else.”
Israeli officials have said the offensive in Gaza will continue until all hostages taken are returned and Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are dismantled, as well as any remaining military threat.
Hamas says the release of a now-unknown number of Israeli hostages is dependent on a long-term ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Palestinian detainees in Israel.
It is estimated about half of the 240 hostages initially captured were released during a week-long truce in November, including the majority of women and children.
Mr Hamdan said Hamas did not have of any civilian hostages but did not dismiss the possibility that other factions, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad could still be holding some.
“The Israelis tried to manipulate the list and say we’re holding female [civilian] hostages but they are all female soldiers,” he told The National.
“We informed mediators that they were captured while they were on military bases.” The group has demanded that Israeli soldiers captured by Hamas on October 7 will not be released unless an “all-for-all” deal is agreed by the two sides, under which all Palestinian detainees would be freed from Israeli prisons.
Most of the hostages are believed to be held by Hamas but others are thought to be kept by other Palestinian factions.
“If there are any civilians left [in Gaza], it’s not because this is our will,” Mr Hamdan said.
“There may be [civilians] but it is a limited number because, during the temporary truce period, we had discussions with our connections and gathered them from different areas.”
The end of the war in Gaza most probably hinges on the release of Israeli captives. For Hamas, it can bring it towards a ceasefire and open dialogue over a political settlement in its favour. For Israel, freeing the hostages means not giving in to Hamas’s demands.
However, as the war continues, hope for the safe return of the remaining Israeli captives has dwindled.
On Monday, Al Qassam Brigades released a video featuring three Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
The three captives, who identify themselves as Yossi Sharabi, 53, Itai Svirsky, 38, and Noa Argamani, 26, were all taken by Hamas on October 7.
In the video, Ms Argamani is the last to speak. She describes being trapped under the rubble after an air strike. She then says that Mr Sharabi and Mr Svirsky were killed in Israeli strikes.
“While we are alive, bring us home,” she said.
Mr Hamdan acknowledged some hostages had died in Israeli air strikes or in battles between Israeli and Al Qassam Brigade fighters during attempted rescues.
“In two [Israeli rescue] attempts, the prisoners were killed during the operation, along with the Israeli soldiers” who tried to rescue them, he said.
Our most important achievement is that the world has begun talking about the rights of Palestinians
OSAMA HAMDAN
Senior Hamas representative