Hamas Official Says Group Is Ready for ‘Dialogue With America’
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In a rare move hours after the cease-fire took effect, one senior Hamas official said the group wants to engage the new Trump administration.
Hours after the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas took effect, a senior Hamas official said that the militant group was ready to start a dialogue with the United States, making a rare overture to a country that Hamas has long excoriated for supporting Israel.
The comments made by the official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, who is based in Qatar, suggest that at least some senior members of Hamas hope it can engage directly with the incoming Trump administration even though the United States has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997.
Mr. Abu Marzouk’s remarks may also indicate that Hamas feels buoyed by the cease-fire and believes there could be an opportunity to expand the group’s international relations.
“We’re prepared for a dialogue with America and achieving understandings on everything,” Mr. Abu Marzouk, the first leader of Hamas’s political office, said in a phone interview on Sunday.
Beyond the United States, numerous Western countries also consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, including Britain and Canada. But Hamas has made some efforts to improve relations with Western governments, including by issuing a policy document in 2017 that took more moderate positions than its founding charter. The document called the establishment of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza a “formula of national consensus,” but it also rejected recognition of Israel.
The group has refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel, and after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, it was forcefully condemned by the United States and European countries. The attack, analysts say, was a reflection of the ascendancy of hard-line leaders in the group advocating for violent conflict over long-term understandings with Israel.