Senior Hamas official: Terror group aims to maintain Gaza security in ‘transitional phase,’ can’t commit to disarm

Hamas intends to maintain security control in Gaza during an interim period, a senior Hamas official told Reuters earlier this week, adding he could not commit to the group disarming — positions that reflect the difficulties facing US plans to secure an end to the war.

The remarks were published today.

Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal also said the terror group is ready for a ceasefire of up to five years, with guarantees for what happens afterwards depending on Palestinians being given “horizons and hope” for statehood.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview from Doha, where Hamas officials have long resided, Nazzal defends the group’s crackdown in Gaza, where it carried out public executions on Monday.

There were always “exceptional measures” during war and those executed were criminals guilty of killing, he said.

Asked if Hamas would give up its arms, Nazzal said: “I can’t answer with a yes or no. Frankly, it depends on the nature of the project. The disarmament project you’re talking about, what does it mean? To whom will the weapons be handed over?”

He added that issues to be discussed in the next phase of negotiations, including weapons, concerned not only Hamas but also other armed Palestinian groups, and would require Palestinians more broadly to reach a position.

Nazzal also said the negotiations for the second phase of the agreement would begin soon.

On Tuesday, Trump said he had communicated to Hamas that it must disarm or it would be forced to. Trump has also suggested Hamas was given temporary approval for internal security operations in Gaza, and has endorsed Hamas killing members of gangs.

Noting Trump’s remarks, Nazzal said there was an understanding regarding Hamas’s presence on the ground, without specifying among whom, and claimed it was to protect aid trucks from thieves and armed gangs.

“This is a transitional phase. Civilly, there will be a technocratic administration, as I said. On the ground, Hamas will be present,” he said. After the transitional phase, there should be elections, he said.

Nazzal said mediators had not discussed with the group an international stabilization force for Gaza, which was proposed in Trump’s ceasefire plan.

Hamas’s founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel, although the group’s leaders have at times offered a long-term truce with Israel in return for a viable Palestinian state. Israel regards this position as a ruse.

Nazzal said Hamas had suggested a long-term truce in meetings with US officials, and wanted a truce of at least three to five years to rebuild the Gaza Strip.

“The goal isn’t to prepare for a future war,” he said.

Beyond that period, guarantees for the future would require states to “provide horizons and hope for the Palestinian people,” he said.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.