Hamas says it promises to lay down its arms if the Palestinian state becomes independent. In fact, they are ready to transform into an officially independent Palestinian political party.<br /><br />A top official in Hamas' political bureau said the group was ready to agree to a ceasefire for five years or more in the war against Israel. It is known that war is currently raging in the Gaza Strip.<br /><br />Hamas is also willing to lay down its arms, disband its armed wing, and transform into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established based on the pre-1967 borders.<br /><br />This statement was conveyed by Khalil al-Hayya, who is a high-ranking Hamas political official, in an interview with leading media outlet The Associated Press on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, local time. To date, Gaza ceasefire negotiations have reached a deadlock.<br /><br />But it is unlikely that Israel would consider such a scenario. Moreover, Tel Aviv has vowed to destroy Hamas after the deadly attack on October 7 last year, which sparked war in the Gaza Strip.<br /><br />The current Israeli leadership also firmly opposes the formation of a Palestinian state in the territory Israel captured in the 1967 war.<br /><br />Al-Hayya, who represents Hamas in ceasefire negotiations and hostage-prisoner exchanges, delivered sometimes defiant and sometimes conciliatory statements in an interview with the Associated Press in Istanbul, Turkey.<br /><br />He said that Hamas wanted to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by its rival Fatah faction, to form a unified government in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.<br /><br />US Fails Palestine to Become a Member of the United Nations, The United States (US) vetoed the request for full UN membership for Palestine in the UN Security Council on Thursday, April 18, 2024.<br />
