In an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, Badran stressed that turning such forces into a replacement for the Israeli occupation army or into a tool to fight Palestinians is “not workable and will only complicate the situation.”
Badran said that the Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian National Liberation Movement-Fatah, had presented a unified position in Cairo regarding international forces, emphasizing that the Palestinian stance is based on protecting civilians and stopping the aggression, not legitimizing any new foreign military presence.
He noted that reaching the ceasefire agreement—brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the US and signed in Sharm El-Sheikh—came “after the world grew tired of the behavior of the occupation, including the US administration that supports it.”
The Hamas official added that ending the genocide in Gaza was a central objective for Hamas, noting that since its establishment on 10 October, Israel has continuously violated the ceasefire.
Badran said the resistance had acted with “political wisdom and realism,” adding that a national consensus and an Arab and Islamic support base had backed this path.
“We are the owners of the right and the land, and the world must direct the compass toward the occupation, not the victim.”, he added.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed 70,000 Palestinians and wounded 171,000 others, most of them women and children. Israeli forces have also decimated around 90 percent of the strip's infrastructure, with the United Nations (UN) estimating the cost of reconstruction at about $70 billion.
Hamas fighters in Rafah
Badran said Hamas had engaged in difficult negotiations with mediators to solve the issue of its trapped resistance fighters outside the "yellow line" in Rafah, seeking to preserve the fighters’ lives. However, he stated that Israel presented “impossible conditions and repeatedly reneged on them.”
He said the demand for surrender and the handover of weapons was raised in some rounds but was firmly rejected by Hamas, stressing that “the fighters in the field cannot accept such an option”.
Badran accused the Israeli occupation army of trying to exploit the issue to obtain a “victory image” after two years of genocide. He said Israel was the party that initiated attacks on the fighters in Rafah and targeted them, affirming that they “represent Gaza and the dignity of the Palestinian people, no matter the sacrifices.”
The Israeli army had announced on Sunday that it had killed more than 40 fighters in recent operations targeting tunnels in the Rafah area.
‘Systematic escalation’ in the West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, Badran said Israeli occupation continues to carry out a “systematic escalation” since the start of the war on Gaza, pointing to recent military assaults in Tubas and the northern West Bank, as well as earlier raids in Tulkarem, Jenin, and Nablus.
He said what is happening exposes “the falseness of the Israeli narrative that links its crimes to the events of 7 October,” noting that the West Bank did not participate in operation Al-Aqsa Flood, but that has not stopped Israel from killing and arresting Palestinian civilians, demolishing their homes, confiscating their lands, encouraging settler attacks, and geographically fragmenting the West Bank.
The Hamas official added that the current stage requires a unified Palestinian position, and that Hamas is making contacts with various factions to find mechanisms to protect the population from settler and military attacks.
Badran affirmed that the resistance “will continue to defend its people with all available means,” saying Palestinians will pay a price, but “will eventually gain their rights no matter how long it takes.”
Israeli forces withdrew from Tubas in the northern West Bank after a four-day military assault during which they raided Palestinian homes and damaged their contents. The assault wounded more than 166 Palestinians.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club recorded around 200 detentions, most of whom were later released, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Relations with the PA
Regarding relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), Badran said there is no rupture.
He referred to meetings in Cairo with Hussein Al-Sheikh, the PA’s deputy leader, and Majed Farag, the PA intelligence chief, which included discussions on national challenges and ways to confront them.
The Hamas leader emphasized that the difficulties lie in the implementation mechanisms and unifying the Palestinian position.
Badran said the PA and Fatah remain influential components, and Hamas is keen to reach a minimum level of understanding in confronting the occupation.
He said Israel’s targeting of Palestinians spans all geography and political components—not Hamas alone.
He noted that the US President Donald Trump's plan and UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution had excluded the PA from any role in Gaza, which he said confirms that “the Israeli project aims to eliminate the Palestinian cause entirely.”
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