GAZA CITY: A member of the Hamas political bureau on Friday said that the Palestinian movement Hamas is suggesting during ceasefire talks that an independent government of non-partisan figures could run Gaza after the war and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hossam Badran in a statement about the ongoing talks between Hamas and Israel with mediation from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States said: “We proposed that a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war.”
He said the Gaza administration after the war is an internal affair of Palestine without any external interference.
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A Hamas official also told Western media the proposal for a non-partisan government was made with the mediators. The official, on the condition of anonymity, said the government will manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the initial stage after the war, paving the way for general elections.
Badran’s remarks came at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of the Philadelphi corridor, a territory of Gaza along the border with Egypt. This condition contradicts Hamas’ position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a complete ceasefire.
The negotiations are taking place in Doha, Qatar and Cairo, Egypt with the objective of bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the return of captives.
Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 280th day, has killed at least 38,345 Palestinians majority of them women and children and injured 88,295, with more than 10,000 estimated to be buried under the debris and 9,500 abducted by Tel Aviv.
