Hamas Official: ‘We’re Not Obstinate’ in Peace Talks on Gaza

For nearly two decades, Hamas has been in charge of governing Gaza, overseeing its border crossings, schools and hospitals.

But after nine months of a ruinous war with Israel, the militant group is now expressing readiness to give up civilian governance in Gaza, albeit without dismantling its military wing.

The overture by Hamas, while most likely a nonstarter for Israel, is meant to signal to the international community Hamas’s apparent readiness to make some concessions to enable the rebuilding of Gaza. It also arrives against the backdrop of ongoing cease-fire negotiations, in which Hamas has shown some flexibility on the language in a proposed deal.

“First and foremost, we want the Palestinian people in Gaza to recover from this war,” Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, said in an interview at an unmarked building in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Hamas, Mr. Badran said, would support the formation of a government for Gaza and the occupied West Bank led by independent figures who could work with foreign officials on reconstructing the coastal enclave.

While such a prospect faces major obstacles, Mr. Badran’s comments amounted to one of the most detailed visions yet presented by a Hamas official for the future of Gaza.