Moussa Abu Marzouk, head of international relations for the Hamas terrorist organization, has insisted that the terror group remains committed to the ceasefire agreement.
According to Abu Marzouk, Hamas has fulfilled all obligations required in the first phase, and is maintaining continuous contact with all Palestinian Arab factions in an effort to formulate a unified position regarding proposals for implementing the remaining stages of the agreement.
In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Abu Marzouk said that Nikcolay Mladenov, representing the "Peace Council," is currently leading negotiations between the sides and presents himself as working to advance peace efforts.
However, according to Abu Marzouk, the ideas recently proposed deviate from the agreement and excessively accommodate Israel’s demands. He claimed the negotiations are designed to serve only one side - Israel - which is demanding the disarmament of all Palestinian organizations, including handguns. Such a scenario, he claimed, could create anarchy that would benefit Israel.
"Therefore, we feel that the ideas presented to us by Mladenov were drafted in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bypassing even what was included in the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement and US President Donald Trump’s plan," Abu Marzouk said.
He also claimed that the current negotiations are neither fair nor professional, and are instead an attempt to impose Israeli demands under a new guise. This, he insisted, must be corrected to preserve the full rights of the "Palestinian people."
Addressing the issue of Hamas disarmament, Abu Marzouk said that any discussion of surrendering weapons before Israel fulfills all of its commitments would effectively mean "the continuation of the war."
He called on mediators and the international community to pressure Israel to implement its commitments in both stages of the agreement and to allow the administrative committee to enter Gaza so it can carry out its duties.