File Photo: Senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk. Photo courtesy of Hamas Political Bureau.
Abu Marzouk stated that the Palestinian resistance movement responded “positively” to the plan, with priority given to an immediate halt in fighting.
Late on Friday, Hamas said in a statement that it had held “extensive consultations to reach a responsible position” and was ready to release all prisoners and bodies under the deal “to achieve a cessation of war and withdrawal, while providing the necessary conditions for the exchange”.
Focus on first nine points
Abu Marzouk said his Palestinian resistance movement is concentrating on the first nine items of the plan, which cover ending the war, Israeli withdrawal, humanitarian aid, and transferring power immediately after hostilities cease.
He noted that handing Gaza’s administration to an independent Palestinian committee had already been agreed during previous Cairo talks.
The main points for negotiation, he said, are “an end to the war and aggression, the Israeli withdrawal, the provision of aid, and the future administration of the Gaza Strip.”
Some elements, such as the exchange of prisoners and bodies within 72 hours, were described as “unrealistic”.
“These matters require a great deal of detail and extensive dialogue,” he told Al Jazeera.
On clauses concerning questions around Hamas disarmament, Abu Marzouk said: “Israel announced that it has destroyed 90 percent of Hamas’s capabilities, so what weapons does it want to disarm anyway?”
He added that US President Trump himself said 25,000 Hamas fighters had been killed. “The movement has expressed its willingness to surrender its weapons on the day a sovereign Palestinian state is established,” he stressed.
“Weapons were used to confront the occupation. If the occupation ends and Palestinians can govern themselves, then whoever governs the Gaza Strip will hold weapons in their hands, and there will be no need for Hamas to keep them,” he said.
Abu Marzouk also questioned proposals to deploy United Nations (UN) forces in Gaza, inquiring about which countries would participate, under what mandate, with what budget, and whether they would be stationed on the Egypt-Gaza or Israel-Gaza border.
On language stipulating that Gaza must be “free of terrorism,” he said Hamas rejected the designation: “We are not a terrorist organization despite what Washington and Tel Aviv say.”
Abu Marzouk stressed that deciding Gaza’s future is not up to Hamas alone. “There are partners in shaping the future of the Palestinian people, and Hamas cannot say yes or no on its own,” he said. “The Palestinian people reject any form of guardianship.”
He urged the US to adopt a more constructive stance: “President Trump, who is seeking the Nobel Peace Prize, cannot be a partner with a man wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, and whose army is committing genocide,” he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas, he added, had consulted with other Palestinian factions, political leaders, allies, mediators, and legal experts before issuing its response, which has since been endorsed by other groups.
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