Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the movement’s position had been clear from the start that it “does not want to be part of the arrangements for the day after the aggression on the Gaza Strip ends”, adding that this later developed into an agreement to form a national committee to administer the territory.
In a press statement on Wednesday, Qassem said Hamas had called for pressure on Israel to allow the rapid entry of the national committee into Gaza. He said the movement had “taken all the necessary field, political and legal steps to transfer all governance responsibilities to the national committee in the Strip, including the security sphere”.
Qassem also criticised comments by former UN envoy Nikolay Mladenov regarding violations of the ceasefire agreement, saying that speaking about breaches “in general terms contradicts the reality and the facts”.
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He said Israel had violated the agreement by killing more than 850 people, restricting the entry of aid, and continuously moving the “yellow line” westwards.
“It was necessary for Mladenov to clearly point to the Israeli violations in return for full commitment by Hamas and the Palestinian factions, in order to achieve full implementation of the plan of US President Donald Trump,” Qassem added.
He said achieving peace in Gaza required pressure on Israel to implement what had been agreed in the first phase before moving to “logical and reasonable discussions” on the second phase, including the entry of the national committee, international forces, Israeli withdrawals, and the issue of Palestinian weapons.
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