For nearly two decades, Hamas has been in charge of governing Gaza, overseeing its border crossings, schools and hospitals.
But after nine months of a ruinous war with Israel, the militant group is now expressing readiness to give up civilian governance in Gaza, albeit without dismantling its military wing.
The overture by Hamas, while most likely a nonstarter for Israel, is meant to signal to the international community Hamas’s apparent readiness to make some concessions to enable the rebuilding of Gaza.
It also arrives against the backdrop of ongoing cease-fire negotiations, in which Hamas has shown some flexibility on the language in a proposed deal.
“First and foremost, we want the Palestinian people in Gaza to recover from this war,” Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, said in an interview at an unmarked building in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Persons:
Husam
Organizations:
Hamas
Locations:
Gaza, Israel, Doha