Hamas would not join the official signing of the Gaza peace agreement with Israel in Egypt, AFP reported quoting a senior Hamas leader.
“The matter of the official signing — we will not be involved,” said Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, in an interview with AFP.
Badran said that Hamas had been negotiating "principally through Qatari and Egyptian mediators" in the Cairo ceasefire talks.
He also rejected parts of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, specifically the call for Hamas members to be expelled from Gaza, as "absurd".
“Talk about expelling Palestinians, whether they're Hamas members or not, from their land is absurd and nonsense,” Badran said.
The Hamas spokesman also ruled out the possibility of disarming, stressing that the transfer of arms was "out of the question and not negotiable."
Badran threatened that Hamas would "repel aggression" in the event that Israel continues fighting after the truce has expired.
His comments followed President Trump's statement that Hamas would begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday or Tuesday through an American-brokered ceasefire, and that returning the remains of those who perished in captivity is part of it.
Trump indicated that the topic of the surrender of Hamas' weapons will be addressed during the second phase of the Gaza peace plan.
