Azzam al-Ahmad, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), stated that Hamas is not a terrorist organization and rejected calls for its disarmament. He also revealed plans to initiate dialogue about the potential inclusion of Hamas in the PLO.
In an interview with Egypt’s Al-Shorouk newspaper, al-Ahmad, who was elected to his current position last May following the appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as deputy chairman of the Palestinian Authority, announced that discussions would soon take place regarding the possibility of Hamas joining the PLO framework.
The senior official strongly criticized American proposals for reforming the Palestinian Authority, calling them "impossible" and harmful to Palestinian national identity.
Regarding the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel, al-Ahmad described the attack as a "strategic mistake," emphasizing that Palestinian Arabs had suffered heavy casualties and widespread destruction.
He also criticized the response of Arab states to the war, noting that, apart from Egypt and Jordan, most Arab countries had failed to take significant action to prevent the displacement of Palestinian Arabs from their land.