A senior Hamas official has confirmed the militant group is in direct talks with the United States over peace in Gaza, adding that it believes Donald Trump can help broker a deal.
Speaking to Sky News’ lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim, Dr Basem Naim said Hamas has shared its proposed agreement both through mediators and “directly with some persons in the US administration”.
They are calling for “a prisoner exchange, total withdrawal of Israeli forces, allowing all the aid to get into Gaza and rebuilding of [the] Gaza Strip without forceful immigration,” he said.
Dr Naim also addressed whether Hamas – which has been in power since it won the 2006 Palestinian election – could step down from government in order to secure peace.
“We have also told the Americans, we are ready to, again, to hand over the government immediately if we reach an end of this war,” he said.
Trump, seen here at a US airbase in Qatar, is on the final day of a Middle East tour
Dr Naim added Hamas has “accepted” an Egyptian peace proposal which “is talking about forming a Palestinian, independent, politically unaffiliated body to run the Gaza Strip”.
“Before that, as long as we are still occupied people, we have all the right to continue defending our people and resisting the occupation with all means including under resistance,” he said.
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Turning his attention directly to the US president, the senior Hamas official said he thinks Mr Trump “has the capability and the will to reach this peaceful situation”.
He said: “Gaza and Gazans are deserving, like all other people everywhere, to live in peace and dignity.
“And I think President Trump can do it if he exercises enough pressure on the Israelis to end this war immediately. And we are ready to cooperate with him to achieve this goal of a more peaceful region.”
Hamas has set out ceasefire conditions – but Trump remains as stern as ever
Donald Trump’s Middle East tour has been full of surprises.
But the revelation that officials in his administration are speaking directly to Hamas is one of the most significant.
As the US president addressed troops at the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar – the largest in the region – I sat down with a senior Hamas official who confirmed direct talks were ongoing.
In an exclusive interview, Dr Bassem Naim praised Trump and talked up chances of finding a peaceful resolution.
It’s a remarkable statement from a senior figure within the group, which is considered by the US and UK to be a terrorist organisation.
Much has been made of Trump’s ‘transactional’ approach here in the region.
His commitment to the ‘art of the deal’ can often achieve unexpected results but also anger his allies – which is almost certainly the case with Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
When I asked Dr Naim about the demands from Israel and the United States for Hamas to disarm and accept that it can no longer be the governing force in Gaza, he set out conditions that Hamas says would have to be met.
However, President Trump’s public stance on Hamas remains as stern as ever.
The group “needed to be dealt with” he said earlier, adding he has “concepts for Gaza,” and that the US should “take it” and turn it into a “freedom zone”.
Israel’s war in Gaza has now entered its 20th month with more than 60,000 people believed to be dead, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Some 15,000 of them are children, according to UNICEF.
There are still more than 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Strip.
In a statement released on Thursday, Hamas highlighted the fact it recently released hostage Edan Alexander, an Israeli soldier with American citizenship.
It continued: “We expect, based on the understandings reached with the American side, and with the knowledge of the mediators, that humanitarian aid should have entered the Gaza Strip immediately, a call been made for a permanent ceasefire, and that comprehensive negotiations would have been held on all issues to achieve security and stability in the region, a goal we aspire to achieve.
“However, failure to achieve these steps, especially the entry of humanitarian aid to our people, will cast a negative effect over any efforts to complete negotiations on the prisoner exchange process.”
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The US president has previously shared plans of his own for Gaza and in February, he posted a bizarre AI video showing the region transformed into a paradise complete with its own Trump tower and exotic beaches.
The States could “own that piece of land” and develop it, he said – but the idea was swiftly condemned as the effective “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians from Gaza.
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Mr Trump is currently on a visit to the Middle East, which has included stops in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – but not Israel.
There had been hopes his trip could lead to a ceasefire deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed ahead with an escalation of force on the Gaza Strip.
Israel has this week launched airstrikes on two consecutive nights while continuing to block aid for the region, worsening the humanitarian crisis.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
