Hamas refused US presidential adviser Jared Kushner’s proposal that the movement hold talks with the American administration, the group’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, told Al Jazeera in an interview.
Haniyeh said: “We refused holding any meeting.” This, he continued, was because Hamas understood the talks would including discussions about disarming the Palestinian resistance and adhering to the US’ so-called ‘peace deal’, the ‘deal of the century‘.
![Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh (C) holds a press conference during his visit in Beirut, Lebanon on 11 September 2020. [Mahmut Geldi - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/20200912_2_44312524_58071532.jpg?resize=1200%2C801&ssl=1)
Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh (C) holds a press conference during his visit in Beirut, Lebanon on 11 September 2020. [Mahmut Geldi – Anadolu Agency]
“During the besiegement, Israel failed to disarm the resistance in spite of the normalisation deals, putting the movement on terror lists and demonising it, which is evidence that the resistance is expanding and rising… We do not seek war in the Gaza Strip but we do not fear it, and if the occupation considered launching new aggressions in Gaza, the war will be different.”
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