Hamas official welcomes Trump's withdrawal of proposal to displace Gaza residents

(Patria) - Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem welcomed US President Donald Trump's retreat from his proposal for the permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, calling on him to refrain from aligning with the vision of the "extreme Zionist right," Reuters reported.

The statement came after Trump said on Wednesday that "nobody is expelling Palestinians from Gaza" in response to a question during a White House meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

"If US President Trump's statements represent a retreat from any idea of displacing people from the Gaza Strip, they are welcome," Qassem said.

"We (Hamas) call for this position to be strengthened by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the conditions of the ceasefire agreement."

Last month, Trump proposed a US takeover of Gaza, where an Israeli military offensive over the past seventeen months has killed tens of thousands of people, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians in the enclave be permanently displaced.

On Sunday, Taher Al-Nono, a political adviser to the Hamas leader, confirmed unexpected, direct talks with Washington in the Qatari capital over the past week, focusing on the release of an American-Israeli dual national held by the militant group in Gaza.

He added that the meetings between Hamas leaders and US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler also discussed how to see the implementation of a phased agreement aimed at ending the war between Israel and Gaza.

Israel and Hamas signaled on Saturday that they are preparing for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations, with mediators supporting talks on extending the 42-day truce that began in January.

A Hamas delegation met with Egyptian mediators over the past two days and confirmed its readiness to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire. Israel sent negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks.

The talks between Boehler and Hamas broke with Washington's decades-old policy of refusing to negotiate with groups that the US designates as terrorist organizations.

Hamas carried out an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In the Israeli offensive since then, more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed.