A Hamas official on Saturday that the group would not take part in the formal signing of the Gaza peace deal in Egypt.
"The matter of the official signing -- we will not be involved," political bureau member Hossam Badran said in an interview, adding that Hamas "acted principally through... Qatari and Egyptian mediators" during ceasefire talks in Egypt.
Hamas is also ready to fight back if US President Donald Trump's peace deal unravels and hostilities with Israel resume in the Gaza Strip, Badran told AFP.
"We hope that we will not return to (war), but our Palestinian people and the resistance force will undoubtedly confront and use all their capabilities to repel this aggression if this battle is imposed," he said.
The plan, brokered by Trump along with Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye, aims to establish a permanent ceasefire, secure the release of all hostages and restore full humanitarian access to Gaza.
The proposal for Hamas members to leave the Gaza Strip under the peace plan is "absurd,” Badran said.
"Talk about expelling Palestinians, whether they're Hamas members or not, from their land is absurd and nonsense," he added in the interview.
