A senior Hamas political official, Khalil al-Hayya, told The Associated Press that the Islamic militant group is willing to accept a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it will lay down its arms and convert to a political party if it is created an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders. The comments by Khalil al-Hayya – deputy to Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar – come against the backdrop of stalled ceasefire talks. The hypothesis of Hamas disarmament appears to be a significant concession on the part of the group, officially committed to the destruction of Israel. However, Israel is unlikely to consider such a scenario: it has vowed to crush Hamas following the deadly October 7 attack that sparked the war, and its current leadership is firmly against the creation of a Palestinian state on the conquered lands. by Israel in the 1967 war.
Al-Hayya, who represented Hamas in the ceasefire and hostage exchange negotiations, used a tone that was at times provocative and at other times conciliatory. Speaking to the AP in Istanbul, he said Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by the rival Fatah faction, to form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank. He said Hamas would 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. If that happened, he highlighted, the the group’s military wing would disband.
Meanwhile, Islamic terrorists have released a video showing the 23-year-old hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive. The young man has dual Israeli-American citizenship. In the nearly three-minute video, Goldberg-Polin, who is missing his left forearm from the elbow down, identifies himself and asks the Israeli government to bring him home. It is not specified when the footage was filmed but the young man claims to have been held captive for “almost 200 days”, suggesting it was done recently. The 23-year-old was kidnapped on October 7 by Hamas while he was at a music festival near Reim. He lost his forearm due to grenades thrown by militiamen inside the shelter where he had sought shelter together with other young people. In the videos released after the attack he could be seen being taken away, clutching his stump.
