Doha
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NCS interviewed a key Hamas negotiator and member of the militant group’s political bureau, Ghazi Hamad, this week, at a key second within the battle with Israel.

Two weeks earlier, Hamad had survived an attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which has been a key mediator within the battle. The interview coated a variety of matters – how Hamas now regards October 7, the destiny of the remaining hostages in Gaza, the state of ceasefire negotiations and the way forward for a post-war Gaza.

Here are the key takeaways from what he stated:

Hamas stays unapologetic about October 7

Nearly two years after Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing almost 1,200 individuals and taking greater than 250 hostages, Hamad made clear that Hamas has no regrets about its actions that day nor the lethal penalties they triggered.

He repeated a false declare by Hamas, insisting it focused solely Israeli navy installations and that it by no means meant to kidnap civilians. He insisted the assault was justified due to many years of Israeli occupation and blockade. And slightly than taking accountability for the position of the assault in triggering Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, he made clear he believes the Palestinian trigger has been boosted by Hamas’s assault.

“You know what is the benefit of October 7 now?” Hamad requested, earlier than itemizing off rising worldwide help for a Palestinian trigger.

“I think this is a golden moment for the world to change the history,” he stated.

Interestingly, his argument just isn’t far from the speaking factors of senior Israeli officers, who’ve lambasted a wave of recognition of Palestinian statehood as a “reward for terrorism.” At the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded the actions – many by conventional allies of Israel, as “shameful, sheer madness and insane.”

Hamad and Netanyahu each appear keen to attract a direct line from October 7 to this second of rising help for the Palestinian trigger.

In a social media submit Friday morning, Israel’s Foreign Ministry characterised Hamad’s feedback to NCS as “a thank you note to Emmanuel Macron from senior Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad.”

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‘Do you settle for any accountability?’: NCS presses Hamas official on struggling in Gaza

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In the interview, Hamad made no apologies for the large worth Palestinians have paid within the almost two years since Hamas triggered the battle in Gaza on October 7, 2023: More than 65,000 Palestinians killed by Israel, almost all the 2 million Gazans displaced from their houses, and Gaza in ruins.

Hamad’s response to all of it: “I know the price (is) so high, but I’m asking again, what is the option?”

Pressed repeatedly on whether or not Hamas bears any accountability for the loss of life and destruction it triggered on October 7, Hamad – who has beforehand stated Palestinians are “proud to sacrifice martyrs” – demurred and deflected.

Even when confronted with the voices of Palestinians in Gaza who do maintain Hamas accountable and are calling on Hamas to put down its weapons for the sake of ending the battle, Hamad was defiant.

Instead, he made clear he believes that frightening Israel’s overwhelming assaults on Gaza and the following deaths of Palestinians was each crucial and justified. And Hamas’ perception within the legitimacy of armed resistance because the pathway to its goals seems as rock-solid as ever.

“What do you expect for the Palestinian to do, just to keep silent and all the world is watching the suffering of the Palestinian people and doing nothing?” Hamad stated.

Notwithstanding the newest declare by US President Donald Trump on Friday {that a} deal to finish the battle is “close,” Hamad described talks as “frozen.”

Two weeks after he and different senior Hamas officers had been focused in an Israeli strike, Hamad stated there was no motion to get negotiations again on monitor.

He blamed Israel for the impasse, saying its try to assassinate him and different Hamas negotiations signalled that it’s “not interested in negotiation.”

For those that will pore over this interview, searching for clues to point that Hamas is searching for an off-ramp or ready to make concessions the place purple strains as soon as stood, they are going to be sorely upset.

Hamad stated Hamas remains to be eager about an all-encompassing deal to finish the battle through which it might launch all 48 remaining hostages, however he supplied no indication of any shift in its elementary positions, corresponding to its opposition to the demand by Israel and far of the worldwide neighborhood that the militant group be fully disarmed.

Even as Israel has launched a major invasion of Gaza City, Hamad supplied little indication that Israel’s navy stress is impacting the group’s core negotiating positions.

With talks frozen and a brand new US proposal to finish the battle circulating amongst Arab nations, it’s clear that the United States will proceed to be the key participant in negotiations round any potential ceasefire and hostage launch deal.

So it was particularly notable to listen to Hamad extra essential than conciliatory in his remarks in regards to the US and Trump.

Hamad accused the US president of giving “the green light” for Israel’s try to assassinate him (which the US denies) and accused US negotiators of getting “lost their credibility” by strolling again earlier proposals.

“They could not prove that they are an honest and neutral mediator,” Hamad stated.

Still, he stated he believes the pathway to ending the battle runs via Trump.

Trump, he stated, ought to “impose his position on Israel in order to stop the war.”

“But I think it is not easy to trust Mr. Trump or to trust the American administration all the time,” Hamad stated. “They put on the glasses of Israel. They adopt the Israeli position.”

Two weeks after he and different Hamas leaders had been focused in Doha, Hamas’s leaders have been left with a transparent conclusion: Nowhere is secure for them.

Any sense of security that when existed within the Qatari capital – a longtime haven for Hamas officers, with the tacit settlement of the US and Israel – has now been shattered. So too has the belief between Israel and Qatar, a essential channel for backchannel diplomacy.

“No, no one can be safe,” Hamad stated when requested if he feels secure in Doha. “(Israel) is a crazy state. They could do anything you expect.”

That concern about safety was clear as NCS arrived for the interview with Hamad in Doha. His safety element performed a radical sweep: No telephones had been allowed within the room; even pens had been collected for last-minute inspection earlier than the interview started.

Nadeen Ebrahim contributed extra reporting.



Sources

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