A senior political representative of "Hamas" told The Associated Press that the Islamist militant group was willing to agree to a five-year or longer truce with Israel and that it would lay down its arms and become a political party if an independent Palestinian state was established within pre-1967 borders. writes BTA.
Khalil al-Haya's comments in an AP interview came amid an impasse in months-long talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The suggestion that "Hamas" will disarm seems like a significant concession on the part of the armed group whose main goal is the destruction of Israel.
It is unlikely, however, that Israel would consider such a scenario. Israel has vowed to destroy "Hamas" after deadly attacks on towns and kibbutzim in the country's south on October 7 that sparked the war, and its current leadership is staunchly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state on land Israel seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
In a conversation with the AP in Istanbul, Al Haya said that "Hamas" wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by the Fatah movement, to form a unified government for the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. Al Haya stated that "Hamas" will accept "a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with international resolutions" along Israel's pre-1967 borders
During the years "Hamas" has occasionally softened his public stance on the possibility of a Palestinian state. However, his political program still officially "rejects any alternative to the complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea" -- referring to the area stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which includes the lands that now make up Israel, AP noted.
Al Haya did not specify whether acceptance of the two-state solution would mean an end to the Palestinian conflict with Israel or an intermediate step towards the group's stated goal of destroying Israel.
Earlier today, Israeli radio "Can" reported that Israel's upcoming military operation in Rafah, the last remaining stronghold of "Hamas" in Gaza, will begin with an evacuation of civilians that could last up to five weeks. In this first phase of the ground operation, the civilian population in the southern city near the Egyptian border will be moved to safer places, according to the information cited by Reuters.
Israel's allies and critics have for months called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off the Rafah invasion, fearing mass civilian casualties. More than one million displaced Palestinians from other parts of the Gaza Strip have found shelter in the southern city, which is also the main crossing point through which aid passes into the territory of the Palestinian enclave.
Despite the pressure being put on Israel, the government says it must continue the ground operation to achieve its goal of destroying "Hamas".
According to Israeli officials, four entire battalions of Hamas fighters are in Rafah, which they say has been reinforced by thousands of retreating fighters from the Islamist group. It is said that some of the hostages abducted during the attack by "Hamas" are being held on the territory of Rafah. on October 7.
Meanwhile overnight, Israel stepped up airstrikes against Rafah, killing at least six Palestinians, local medical officials said. In the seventh month of the devastating war against "Hamas" Israeli forces also resumed bombing the northern and central areas of the enclave, as well as east of Khan Younis, located in the southern part of the territory.
Israeli warplanes shelled northern Gaza for a second day in a row yesterday, breaking weeks of relative calm, and Israeli officials said they were pressing ahead with plans for an all-out assault on Hamas hideouts. in Rafah.