A member of the Hamas political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, said in an interview published by the Al-Monitor website, today, Thursday, December 14, 2023, that Hamas “seeks for us to be part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and we said that we will respect the organization’s commitments.”

He added, according to what was reported by the American website: “Israelis must obtain their rights, but not at the expense of others.”

The Hamas leader defended the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing and capture of hundreds of settlers and soldiers.

According to the newspaper, Abu Marzouk said: “The kidnapping of women and children was a mistake,” and in response to a question about not releasing them immediately, he explained that “Israel is bombing Gaza relentlessly.”

Abu Marzouk rejected the Israeli occupation’s allegations that his movement committed “sexual violence” during the operation, describing them as “mere lies.”

When asked what the October 7, 2023, attacks achieved for the people of Gaza, Abu Marzouk said: “Many goals,” including returning the Palestinian issue to the international agenda. “Everyone is talking about a Palestinian state,” he said.

Abu Marzouk pointed out that Hamas is still seeking to establish a state on the 1967 borders, referring to the political document issued by the movement in 2017, which talks about a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, but it did not reach the point of recognizing “Israel” or supporting it. "The two-state solution."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority and says that Israel “will not repeat the Oslo mistake,” referring to the 1993 agreement, which established the Palestinian Authority and aimed to pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

For its part, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, said it would only help govern Gaza as part of a broader peace plan to create an independent state.

Abu Marzouk, who was a permanent resident of the United States, spent nearly two years in a federal prison in New York on suspicion of “terrorist” activity, before being deported to Jordan in 1997.

The 72-year-old now lives in exile in the Qatari capital, Doha, where he heads the international office of the Hamas movement.