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Hamas confirms direct peace talks with US on ending Gaza war.
Hamas is in direct talks with the United States over peace in Gaza, according to a senior official of the militant group.
Dr Basem Naim said the group has shared its proposed agreement “directly” with US officials and through mediators.
The official believes Donald Trump could help broker the deal, saying the US President “has the capability and the will to reach this peaceful situation”.
Speaking to Sky News, Dr Naim said Hamas are calling for “a prisoner exchange, total withdrawal of Israeli forces, allowing all the aid to get into Gaza and rebuilding of [the] Gaza Strip without forceful immigration.”
He added: “We have also told the Americans, we are ready to, again, hand over the government immediately if we reach an end of this war.”
Hamas has been in power since it won the 2006 Palestinian election.
Dr Naim said the group has “accepted” an Egyptian proposal which is “talking about forming a Palestinian, independent, politically unaffiliated body to run the Gaza Strip”.
“Before that, as long as we are still occupied people, we have all the right to continue defending our people and resisting the occupation with all means including under resistance,” he said.
Dr Naim believes Mr Trump could play a key role in talks, given his “capability and the will to reach this peaceful situation”.
The Hamas official said: “Gaza and Gazans are deserving, like all other people everywhere, to live in peace and dignity.
“And I think President Trump can do it if he exercises enough pressure on the Israelis to end this war immediately. And we are ready to cooperate with him to achieve this goal of a more peaceful region.”
However, the White House has since responded to the interview saying Hamas “has not demonstrated they are serious about peace” and that Trump “has been clear Hamas must lay down their arms”.
White House National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt told Sky News: “Hamas continues to wrongfully hold hostages, including American bodies, in the dungeons of Gaza who could easily be freed and have shown no changes in behaviour to indicate they will cease to attack civilians.
In a statement released on Thursday, Hamas highlighted its recent release of hostage Edan Alexander, an Israeli soldier with American citizenship.
It said: “We expect, based on the understandings reached with the American side, and with the knowledge of the mediators, that humanitarian aid should have entered the Gaza Strip immediately, a call been made for a permanent ceasefire, and that comprehensive negotiations would have been held on all issues to achieve security and stability in the region, a goal we aspire to achieve.
“However, failure to achieve these steps, especially the entry of humanitarian aid to our people, will cast a negative effect over any efforts to complete negotiations on the prisoner exchange process.”