Without committing: Hamas agrees to the mediators' draft that defers the important issues

Saudi channels 'Al-Arabiya' and 'Al-Hadath' reported on Tuesday that the Hamas leadership in Gaza recently conveyed a message to the leadership of the terrorist organization abroad. The message included agreement with the latest draft presented by the mediators regarding clauses on weapons and governance in Gaza in the Peace Council plan. The mediators' draft primarily defers the handling of both issues to more advanced stages of the negotiations.

However, according to the report, the agreement of the Hamas leadership in Gaza may pave the way for progress in the talks. Sources emphasized that the agreement to the clauses does not mean there is a solution regarding the salaries of administration officials in Gaza or disarmament, but rather that one of the obstacles to starting the second phase has been removed. The person currently heading the leadership in Gaza is senior Hamas official Ali al-Amoudi, one of Yahya Sinwar's associates.

According to a document attributed to the Peace Council mentioned in the report, Article 5 deals with the debts of the Hamas administration in Gaza since 2007, when the organization came to power by force. According to the proposed draft, the solution to the issue will be postponed to a later stage and will not be a condition for progress.

Regarding Article 8, which concerns the demilitarization of Gaza, the draft includes only a definition of the status of the weapons of the terrorist organizations, the powers of the new security mechanisms on behalf of the technocratic committee, and the connection between the civil administration and the terrorist organizations.

In this context, it was noted that in the past, Hamas refused any wording that could be interpreted as a commitment to disarmament. It was also reported that the mediators raised several proposals for handling the weapons issue, but at later stages of the implementation of the Peace Council plan.