As Israel announces the plan to move forward with the Rafah invasion despite the US protest, a top Hamas official has said that the militant group would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.
Khalil al-Hayya, a top political official of the outfit, told The Associated Press that it was willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel if this condition was met. The statement comes as the latest round of talks between Israel and Hamas hit a stalemate.
The militant group has called for the total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza as a condition for a ceasefire and exchange of hostages and this statement is viewed by experts as a "significant concession by the militant group."
Al-Hayya, a high-ranking Hamas official, told AP in Istanbul that Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by the rival Fatah faction, to form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank.
"Hamas would accept a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions, along Israel's pre-1967 borders. If that happens, the group's military wing would dissolve," he said.
"All the experiences of people who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and obtained their rights and their state, what have these forces done? They have turned into political parties and their defending fighting forces have turned into the national army," he said.
Despite his statement, Hamas has always insisted on full liberation of Palestine, "from the river to the sea" (referring to the area reaching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which includes lands that now form the state of Israel).
Though the international community overwhelmingly supports such a two-state solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government rejects it.
On the Rafah operation, Al-Hayya said such an offensive would not succeed in destroying Hamas. He said the communication between the political leadership outside and military leadership inside Gaza are uninterrupted by the war. "Israeli forces "have not destroyed more than 20% of (Hamas') capabilities, neither human nor in the field, he asserted. If they can't finish (Hamas) off, what is the solution? The solution is to go to consensus," he said.
Though the US blames Hamas for not yielding to the ceasefire talks,
Al-Hayya claimed Hamas has made concessions regarding the number of Palestinian prisoners it wants to be released. He said the group does not know exactly how many hostages remain in Gaza and are still alive.
He added that Hamas, however, will not back down from its demands for a permanent cease-fire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops. "If we are not assured the war will end, why would I hand over the prisoners? "the Hamas leader questioned.
Meanwhile, Israel has said that it was moving forward with the ground operation in Rafah.
The Israeli Defence Forces are set to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault Hamas hold-outs though no timeline has been announced yet, Reuters quoted a defence official.
The report added that Israel's Defence Ministry had bought 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, to house Palestinians relocated from Rafah in advance of an assault.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet has reportedly decided to meet in the next two weeks to authorise civilian evacuations. Once the evacuations are carried out, the military could go in immediately, the defence official told Reuters.
This is despite the international protest against such a move. Israel argues that a Rafah offensive is necessary to achieve victory over Hamas.