CAIRO, May 31. /TASS/. Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh thinks that the changes that have occurred since combat broke out in the Gaza Strip last October should facilitate reaching a final resolution of the Palestinian issue based on the national unity which provides for the shaping of a single Palestinian leadership within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
"Palestinian casualties [during the war in Gaza] and the changes that occurred should lead to a final resolution of issues with Palestine’s liberation [from Israel’s occupation] and of refugees returning to their land, and this involves the national unity," he said as quoted on the Hamas Telegram channel.
He explained that in this context, the Palestinian unity should be based on three components: forming a single national leadership within the framework of the PLO for all Palestinian factions, creating a unified government both for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and holding general elections of the Palestinian president, legislative bodies and the National Council.
Haniyeh confirmed that resistance troops will not cede their positions when concluding agreements with Israel, such as the necessity of halting combat in Gaza, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the embattled enclave, the lifting of the blockade and the restoration of the Gaza Strip, as well as the deal on swapping hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
On May 30, Hamas told mediators in talks with the Israeli side that it was ready to reach an agreement with Israel on the settlement in Gaza if Israeli forces halt combat in the enclave.
Talks on Gaza
On May 9, another round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations ended in Cairo. Egypt’s Al-Qahera Al-Ekhbariya TV station reported that the sides left Cairo "without reaching a consensus on a number of contentious issues." On May 18, Israel’s Kan Radio said that talks between the Israeli government and Hamas had been suspended.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria, followed by a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.
At the end of November 2023, the radical Palestinian movement Hamas reported reaching an agreement with Israel, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip that lasted a week. The agreements envisaged the release of women, children and teenagers held in the enclave in exchange for the release of women, children and teenagers from Israeli prisons. On December 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire and announced renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip.