Hamas to retain security control in Gaza during interim period: Official

Hamas intends to maintain security control in Gaza during an interim period, a senior Hamas official told Reuters, adding he could not commit to the group disarming — positions that reflect the difficulties facing US plans to secure an end to the war.

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Meanwhile, Hamas called on mediators to push for the next steps under the ceasefire in Gaza, including reopening the border, letting in aid, beginning reconstruction, setting up an administration and completing lsrae's withdrawal.

Hamas politburo member Mchammed Nazzal also said the group was ready for a ceasefire of up to five years to rebuild devastated Gaza, with guarantees for what happens afterwards depending on Palestinians being given ‘horizons and hope” for statehood. Speaking to Reuters in an interview from Doha, where Hamas politicians have long resided, Nazzal defended the group’s crackdown in Gaza, where it carried out public executions on Monday. There were always “exceptional measures” during war and those executed were criminals guilty of killing, he said.

While Hamas has broadly expressed these views before, the timing of Nazzal's comments demonstrates the major obstacles obstructing efforts to cement a full end to the war in Gaza, days after the first phase of the ceasefire was agreed.