Hamas leader: Gaza roadmap we agreed to includes establishment of Palestinian state

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, asked in an interview with Qatar’s Al-Araby channel about Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm as part of the Gaza ceasefire, says that Hamas agreed last October to a roadmap that ultimately includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“We agreed on a draft, a roadmap that we are prepared to implement — it is a complete package. It begins with completing the first phase of the ceasefire and continues through to the establishment of a Palestinian state, including the issue of weapons. It must be implemented as a package,” he says.

Al-Hayya does not directly answer whether the terror group would agree to disarm.

He also makes an indirect reference to the Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in about two months, in which Hamas isn’t expected to officially participate on its own as things currently stand. He says Hamas agreed to participate as part of a “national coalition,” without elaborating on what form that participation would take, and adds that postponing the elections would constitute interference in the issue of internal Palestinian reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

Al-Hayya also stresses that October 7 — referring to the devastating October 2023 invasion of Israel — was “a response to the criminal aggression of the occupation. October 7 did not create the occupation. It happened when the Palestinian cause was at its lowest point and the world had forgotten it.”