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Hamas Chief Says 'Open' to One Palestinian Govt for Gaza, West Bank

FILE - Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks to the media after his meeting with Egyptian officials at the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Gaza City, Feb. 10, 2006. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
FILE - Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks to the media after his meeting with Egyptian officials at the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Gaza City, Feb. 10, 2006. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
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Hamas Chief Says 'Open' to One Palestinian Govt for Gaza, West Bank

FILE - Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks to the media after his meeting with Egyptian officials at the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Gaza City, Feb. 10, 2006. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
FILE - Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks to the media after his meeting with Egyptian officials at the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Gaza City, Feb. 10, 2006. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday he is open to a single Palestinian administration to govern Gaza, which is ruled by the militant group, and the occupied West Bank.

"We have received numerous initiatives concerning the internal (Palestinian) situation and we are open to the idea of a national government for the West Bank and Gaza," Haniyeh said in a televised address.

Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since winning the 2006 Palestinian elections, which were followed by violent clashes with the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Multiple attempts at reconciliation between the factions have failed, while Abbas's popularity as head of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has plummeted, according to AFP.

Future governance of Gaza has been raised repeatedly during nearly three months of war between Hamas and Israel, which has vowed to crush the group.

The United States has stressed Palestinians must be part of any post-war administration, but the future role of the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority remains unclear.

In Haniyeh's address, broadcast by Al Jazeera, the Hamas chief also addressed discussions over a second possible pause to the fighting.

A previous truce paved the way for nearly half of the 250 hostages abducted from Israel on October 7 to be released by Gaza militants.

"The enemy's prisoners will only be released on terms set by the resistance," Haniyeh said, without further detail.

Some 129 hostages still remain captive in Gaza.

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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo

Israel said on Thursday the terms of a ceasefire with Hezbollah were not being implemented fast enough and there was more work to do, while the Iran-backed group urged pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave south Lebanon by Monday as set out in the deal.

The deal stipulates that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah remove fighters and weapons from the area and Lebanese troops deploy there - all within a 60-day timeframe which will conclude on Monday at 4 a.m (0200 GMT).

The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities triggered by the Gaza war. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.

"There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement," Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

"We've also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do," he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.

Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after Monday's deadline.

Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks talking about Israel postponing its withdrawal beyond the 60-day period, and that any breach of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that possibility required everyone, especially Lebanese political powers, to pile pressure on the states which sponsored the deal to ensure "the implementation of the full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly.”

Any delay beyond the 60 days would mark a blatant violation of the deal with which the Lebanese state would have to deal "through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters" to recover Lebanese land "from the occupation's clutches," Hezbollah said.