Hamas leaders say they are ‘ready’ to talk with Trump. Do they trust him?

As the Hamas-Israel ceasefire continues, governmental leaders of the Palestinian group person expressed cautious optimism astir the caller United States administration’s quality to proceed to unit Israel to the negotiating table, adjacent arsenic President Donald Trump and his squad person made widely-condemned claims during his archetypal weeks successful bureau astir “cleaning out” Gaza and Israel’s “biblical right” to the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Basem Naim, a Hamas person based successful Doha, said the radical was “interested to conscionable with anyone who tin assistance america execute our goals, which are the goals of our people”. He cited statehood, self-determination, and the close of instrumentality for Palestinians who fled oregon were forced retired of their homes aft the Nakba successful 1948 – erstwhile Israel was created connected the bulk of historical Palestine – oregon consequent wars.

This includes the Trump administration, Naim said. “If determination is immoderate accidental to conscionable with immoderate party, including the Trump administration, to sermon successful item however we tin execute specified goals, I deliberation determination would beryllium nary veto wrong the question and nary objections.”

“In politics, it is not astir liking idiosyncratic oregon not liking someone” Naim added, successful notation to the US president. “It is astir the interests of each parties.”

Naim’s comments followed akin sentiments shared by Hamas’s elder official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, successful an interrogation with The New York Times connected January 20. Abu Marzouk said that the radical was “prepared for a dialog with America”, and praised Trump arsenic “a superior president”, crediting him with ending the Israel-Hamas war.

The comments look to awesome an overture by Hamas to a US administration, which they anticipation volition deploy a much bullish attack to the struggle adjacent arsenic it remains staunchly pro-Israel.

Short-term ceasefire, semipermanent strategy

Naim welcomed Trump’s involution successful ceasefire talks that had languished nether President Joe Biden, and expressed assurance that the statement would hold. “We are committed to the woody and exerting maximum efforts to springiness this woody a accidental to succeed,” helium told Al Jazeera.

He besides noted that the strategical confederation betwixt the US and Israel was “so beardown that we haven’t witnessed immoderate superior differences betwixt Republicans and Democrats”.

“Despite this, we inactive anticipation that the existent medication tin marque a alteration and displacement to a caller American attack towards the Palestinian question,” helium added. “If this happens, I’m definite we are acceptable to cooperate with immoderate enactment who is acceptable to bash it.”

Naim whitethorn dependable cautious optimism, but helium is besides acrophobic astir Trump’s semipermanent plans, citing the comments astir Israel’s “biblical right” to the occupied West Bank by Trump’s nominee to beryllium US ambassador to the United Nations, Elise Stefanik, arsenic “disappointing” and “dangerous”.

He warned that the concern successful the West Bank, wherever Israel has carried retired deadly raids pursuing the ceasefire successful Gaza and settler unit has reached caller levels of intensity, arsenic highly volatile.

“We are talking astir a precise radical, utmost governmental radical of people,” helium said. “If thing happens from supra – and particularly from the United States, from the Trump medication – connected this radical of people, I deliberation it is simply a substance of clip earlier we spot the adjacent explosion.”

“When it comes to the existent situation, alteration successful the United States has helped successful reaching a ceasefire agreement,” helium added. “President Trump stated intelligibly that helium wanted to spot an extremity to this warfare earlier inauguration time and helium exercised unit connected the concern to spot an extremity to it.”

But Trump’s evident enactment for much Israeli onshore grabs successful occupied territory and the imaginable of a ceremonial annexation of the West Bank were profoundly troubling, Naim said.

“When it comes to the semipermanent strategy… I deliberation it is precise unsafe if we are looking for stableness and information and prosperity successful the region.”

“If Trump is readying to basal firmly down the promises helium made, that helium wants to spot an extremity to each these wars and that helium is looking for bid and stableness and normalisation, I’m definite helium is alert and his squad is alert that a warfare successful the portion does not service these goals,” Naim added.

“If helium is truly readying to execute stableness and information successful the portion and to ore connected different issues, helium has to workout unit connected Netanyahu and his racist authorities and conjugation to halt this madness, to halt behaving arsenic a rogue state, oregon arsenic a authorities supra the law.”

“Personally, I judge helium volition bash it,” helium added.

‘Not going anywhere’

Sultan Barakat, a governmental expert and nationalist argumentation prof astatine Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, told Al Jazeera that Hamas emerged from the 15-month warfare proving its resilience contempt Israel’s all-out subject efforts to eradicate it.

“They are not going anywhere,” Barakat said, adding that this has made the radical an ongoing governmental world Trump cannot avoid.

Hamas, for its part, recognises Trump’s decisive relation implicit his predecessor, portion knowing that his medication does not needfully awesome an improvement.

“It’s not astir him being amended for the Palestinians. But I deliberation that they saw the quality helium made erstwhile helium entered the negotiations, the unit helium was capable to exert,” said Barakat. “With Biden, for 15 months, they were fed tons of promises, and galore reddish lines that Israel crossed with nary consequences.”

“They bash spot him arsenic a superior idiosyncratic who said ‘Stop’,” helium added. “But it doesn’t mean that he’s going to beryllium connected the broadside of the Palestinians.”

Barakat stressed that determination were different moments successful the past successful which Hamas felt optimistic astir US argumentation towards Palestine, including in 2017, erstwhile the radical amended its charter and removed connection explicitly calling for Israel’s destruction.

But the United States “failed them”, Barakat added. While the existent ceasefire statement was a archetypal step, helium added, the 2nd and 3rd phases of the deal, concerning reconstruction and governance successful Gaza, remained vague.

Still, Trump was capable to interruption done a stalemate.

“With Biden, they reached the precise bottommost of what is expected of a satellite leader. And not lone the Palestinians, I deliberation everybody progressive successful the process felt the same,” Barakat said. “He introduced galore reddish lines and they were each crossed. He couldn’t bash anything.”

Barakat, who was progressive successful negotiations betwixt the US and Afghanistan’s Taliban, nether the archetypal Trump administration, noted that a akin dynamic played retired astatine the time.

“When you person idiosyncratic who comes successful and says, ‘You bash this, and we don’t cognize what helium said to the others, but they did it,’ that connected the aboveground is worthy of admiration,” helium added. “They respect him. But they don’t spot him moving forward.”