“Hamas will not surrender its guns or sign a proposal that asks for that,” said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a brief message to Arab mediators, on Thursday, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
This comes after US President Joe Biden made a public ceasefire proposal announcement and amid a visit by top US officials, including Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, to the Middle East with the hopes of restarting the negotiations process that was put on hold after “Israel” rejected the last proposal and invaded Rafah.
It is important not to mistake this alleged brief message cited by WSJ as the official response by Hamas to the US ceasefire proposal.
Earlier, on June 5, the head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, affirmed that the movement and the Resistance factions are dealing seriously and positively with any agreement that is based on a comprehensive ceasefire, complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces, and prisoner exchange.
In a statement, Haniyeh said that the Resistance group is conducting negotiations “armed with this position, which represents the will of our people and its courageous resistance.”
It is also important to note that the Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already dubbed any proposal that does not ensure the elimination of Hamas as a “non-starter”.
Resistance would resume talks based on May 6 paper: PFLP
In turn, Marwan Abdel Aal, a member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Lebanon, said, on June 6, that while the PFLP has not officially received the ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal laid out by US President Joe Biden, its contents have been leaked to the group.
Abdel Aal revealed that Biden’s proposal contains a perilous point being discussed with mediators, specifically the phrase “discussion on the conditions for implementing the second phase.”
“We reject any ambiguous agreements that force us into a new maze for the enemy to exploit,” the PFLP official underlined.
Touching on his presence in Cairo, Abdel Aal confirmed that the PFLP was invited officially by the Egyptian leadership and that a delegation from the Fatah movement will also head to the Egyptian capital, confirming that talks are ongoing in Doha with Hamas.
The official made it clear that the Palestinian Resistance would resume negotiations if they were based on the previous document it presented on May 6, affirming the factions’ commitment to the content of this proposal.
Abdel Aal toldthat Biden’s proposal includes Israeli objections to the May 6 document and that Hamas has not received the proposal officially.
In the same context, he stressed that “the Resistance would be the first to address the day after the war from a Palestinian perspective,” adding that the United States is seeking to understand how to digest the new reality post-war in Gaza, which significantly impacts the region.
The PFLP official indicated that “Israel’s” expansion of the war on the northern front with Lebanon amid its failure in Gaza will not allow it to achieve its objectives.
Elsewhere, Abdel Aal considered that the Palestinian narrative is turning from a cultural narrative to a political one, which the Israeli occupation perceives “as an existential threat.”
