Hamas calls for independent Palestinian government in post-war Gaza

Hamas is suggesting during ceasefire negotiations that an independent government of non-partisan figures run post-war Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a member of the Palestinian movement’s political bureau said Friday.

“We proposed that a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war,” Husam Badran said in a statement about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas with mediation from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.


“The administration of Gaza after the war is a Palestinian internal matter without any external interference, and we will not discuss the day after the war in Gaza with any external parties,” Badran added.

A Hamas official told AFP the proposal for a non-partisan government was made “with the mediators.”

The government will “manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the initial phase after the war, paving the way for general elections” said the official, who did not want his name disclosed.

Badran’s remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of the Philadelphi corridor, Gaza territory along the border with Egypt. This condition conflicts with Hamas’ position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.


AFP