Hamas will play a decisive role in Gaza’s future, says Meshal

Khaled Meshal has told the New York Times that Hamas will play a decisive role in the future of Gaza. The group’s survival is in itself a victory, he explained, even if it is significantly weakened.

The senior Hamas official said that Hamas has won the war against Israel and “now has the upper hand.” He pointed out that the movement is still strong and has “exhausted” the Israeli army.

Moreover, the senior official stressed that Hamas is in no hurry to reach a ceasefire at any cost, and will not give up its basic demands to conclude an agreement that includes ending the Israeli war in Gaza and a full withdrawal of the Israeli army from the besieged enclave.

He added that he is confident that Hamas will continue to play a central role in Gaza after the war, and rejected American and Israeli proposals to run the Strip without the movement, which he believes means that Washington now recognises that Hamas is not going anywhere.

“The Israeli-American vision was not talking about the day after the war, but about the day after Hamas,” he said, referring to the initial position of Israel and the United States.

“The US is now waiting for a response from the resistance movement,” noted Meshal. “Palestinians alone will decide the arrangements for the Strip.”

READ: Israel says 4 more soldiers killed and 7 wounded in Rafah