Witkoff says Hamas can be politically active in Gaza if it disarms
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, stated in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Friday that Hamas could still be involved in Gaza politically after being demilitarized.
“They need to demilitarize, and then they might also be politically involved in Gaza,” he said while discussing Hamas's rationale and goals for negotiations, News.Az reports citing The Jerusalem Post.
“We need to understand what Hamas wants and then think about what we can offer them to make them leave. That is what needs to happen here. At the start of the conflict, we heard that ‘Hamas is an ideology, and they are ready to die.’”
Witkoff challenged this idea, saying “I don’t think they are as ideologically extreme as they're often portrayed. They send young children who understand nothing to commit suicide with explosive belts. Once we understand that they want to live, we can talk to them more effectively.”
He also discussed Gaza's reconstruction and the breadth of the proposed solutions.
“When I first returned from a trip there—before Trump was inaugurated—we had permission from the Biden administration to collaborate with them. Trump asked, 'When do you think Gaza can be reconstructed?' My answer was 15 to 20 years. He asked why, and I explained the battlefield conditions.
'Gaza is decimated—there are tunnels underneath, making it like Swiss cheese. Then the area got hit with bunker-buster bombs, so there’s no rock left to build on."'
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