Hamas Ally Calls on Group to Accept ‘Partial' Ceasefire in Gaza
A representative of a left-wing faction fighting alongside the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza has told Newsweek his group is open to a temporary ceasefire in their war with Israel and called for greater efforts to establish a unity government among different Palestinian parties.
Amid an apparent deadlock in Israel-Hamas negotiations being mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) issued a statement on Friday urging Hamas "to intensify efforts, in cooperation with the Arab mediators, to reach an agreement to halt the aggression—even if only for 60 days."
The message, which emphasized "the grave dangers our people face if an immediate ceasefire is not achieved," came as Hamas said it was consulting with its allies on the path forward in talks. Hamas has demanded a deal that would provide stronger guarantees toward a lasting cessation of hostilities, a position the U.S. and Israel have dismissed.
Speaking with Newsweek on Thursday, DFLP Political Bureau member Motasem Hamada explained that this statement "was an attempt by us to reach a 'partial step' that would guarantee a ceasefire, open the crossings, and meet the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza because we observed that living conditions had worsened and that the specter of famine was beginning to loom large."
"Our call to Hamas coincided with other positions with which Hamas consulted," Hamada said, "and based on this position, it formulated its position, which was rejected by the Israelis and the Americans."
Ultimately, Hamada said, the group seeks a solution based on United Nations Security Council resolution 2735, the measure put to a vote Wednesday and vetoed by the U.S., and is fighting to secure new governance that would include both top Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, which leads the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority.
"We want an immediate ceasefire, unconditional aid for our people in the Gaza Strip (food, medicine, fuel, infrastructure, medical care, etc.), an Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, a meaningful prisoner exchange, and the return of the Gaza Strip to the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority under the administration of a national unity government."
"This requires convincing both Fatah and Hamas," Hamada said, "and this is what we are working on."
Newsweek has reached out to Hamas for comment. Newsweek also reached out to the IDF for comment.
The DFLP was established in 1969 as a splinter of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was created two years earlier. Like the PFLP, the DFLP was organized along Marxist-Leninist lines, though its founders expressed opposition to the original group's embrace of Arab nationalist ideas and high-profile attacks as opposed to revolutionary ideology and mass mobilization.
The DFLP has also been linked to major attacks against Israel and joined both the PFLP and Hamas in criticizing the 1990s Oslo peace accords. By this time, Hamas and its Islamist outlook had begun to eclipse the traditional left-wing and nationalist orientations of leading Palestinian parties, leading to its victory in the 2005 elections that paved the way for its 2007 takeover of Gaza in a violent clash with Fatah.
Numerous attempts have been made to mend the Fatah-Hamas rivalry, including a dialogue hosted last June among Palestinian factions hosted by China, though without a breakthrough. Hamas today remains the most dominant group in Gaza, though a number of other influential factions continue to operate there.
And while vast ideological differences exist among the groups in Gaza, the DFLP participated directly in the October 7, 2023, attack against Israel that sparked the current war.
Israeli officials say around 1,200 people were killed in the surprise Palestinian assault and 251 taken hostages, 58 of are believed to still be in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has estimated that more than 54,600 people have been killed amid the Israeli operations that ensued.
Meanwhile, the DFLP's armed wing, known as the National Resistance Brigades or Martyr Omar Al-Qassem Forces, continues to conduct joint operations against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
National Resistance Brigades spokesperson Abu Khaled claimed on Monday the detonation of an explosive device targeting a gathering of Israeli troops near a bulldozer in the town of Al-Qara, north of Khan Younis.
The U.S. proposal, a draft of which was obtained by Newsweek, outlines a 60-day ceasefire, during which Hamas would release 10 living and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the bodies of 180 dead Palestinians held by Israel in two transfers conducted on the first and seventh days of the truce period.
In addition to resuming the flow of international humanitarian aid into Gaza, the proposal also called for the initiation of new negotiations aimed at achieving a permanent ceasefire. The deal does not, however, provide a U.S. guarantee that Israel would agree to a final resolution, something for which Hamas has repeatedly called.
"Upon careful examination, it is clear that the Israeli response fundamentally seeks to entrench the occupation and perpetuate policies of killing and starvation, even during what is supposed to be a period of temporary de-escalation," Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim said in a statement shared with Newsweek last Tuesday.
"The response fails to meet any of the just and legitimate demands of our people," he added, "among them an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza."
Following criticism of Hamas' position by President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who is presiding over the talks, as well as the DFLP's plea, Naim clarified in a follow-up statement on Saturday that his rejection was aimed at Israel's position, not the U.S. proposal itself.
"We now responded positively and responsibly in a manner that fulfilled the minimum of demands and aspirations of our people, (1st to guarantee the 60 days of cease fire will be respected by Israel and proper and sufficient influx of aid into Gaza, 2nd guarantees for negotiations that leads to end the war on Gaza)," Naim said at the time.
The United Nations and a growing number of international powers have also demanded an immediate ceasefire without conditions, with 14 of the 15 representatives at the Security Council gathering Wednesday voting in favor of the measure, leaving the U.S. as the sole opponent.
While Israel and Hamas fail to reach a resolution in the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations being held in Qatar, questions continue to surround the future of Gaza even in the event that hostilities are halted.
The U.S. and Israel have stated that Hamas must be removed from power. The two allies have rallied behind President Donald Trump's vision for the U.S. to assume control of Gaza in order to pursue reconstruction, real estate development and the resettlement of the territory's roughly two million residents, a proposal rejected by all Palestinian parties as well as the region and other major powers.
In March interviews with Newsweek, Israeli Deputy Consul General in New York Tsach Saar said that neither Hamas nor Israel, which previously occupied Gaza from 1967 through 2005, would be in control of the territory in the long run.
"It's not for us to determine who is going to be there the day after [the war is over]," Saar told Newsweek on Monday. "We are making sure that it's not going to be Hamas. And when Hamas is defeated, we will have to work together with our allies, with regional the countries, surrounding countries, neighboring countries to find a solution for the day after."
"But as long as Hamas is there, and unfortunately, it is still alive and kicking, kicking its own people, of course, also it is hard to work on the day after," he added. "But now we're focused on the mission of elimination as Hamas is the organization that is controlling the Gaza Strip both militarily and in governance."
Hamada, for his part, said that "the 'day after' in the Gaza Strip is of great concern to us in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as it is an integral part of the territory of the Palestinian state recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 67/19, based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."
He argued that some progress was made toward achieving a united for bringing Gaza back under a joint Palestinian government during the conference held in China last June but argued that the Palestinian National Authority continued to hold out for fear of the international backlash over bringing Hamas back into the fold.
"We succeeded in the Palestinian National Dialogue in Beijing in June of last year in formulating a comprehensive national position based on the formation of a national consensus government composed of competent, independent and competent Palestinian national figures, providing the necessary resources to manage the affairs of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and cooperate with the official Arab framework for the reconstruction of the Strip," Hamada said.
"It is clear that the decision did not take effect, but rather stalled, due to the refusal of the official Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to form a national consensus government, lest it anger Israel and the United States, given that Hamas remains on the terrorist list."
The U.S. State Department removed the DFLP's terrorist organization designation in 1999, "primarily because of the absence of terrorist activity, as defined by relevant law," for at least two years.
Without a Palestinian mandate, Hamada said the DFLP was not opposed to the proposal drawn up by Egypt and endorsed by the Arab League in March as an alternative to Trump's plan. This framework would establish an administrative committee comprised of independent Palestinian experts tasked with leading Gaza until the territory could be handed back to a reformed Palestinian National Authority.
"We did not take a negative stance on this idea, as we believe there is still a chance to form a national unity government and reach a comprehensive national position, centered on a government agreed upon by all factions," Hamada said. "This would block the remaining solutions proposed by American President Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
U.S. and Israeli officials have, however, dismissed the Arab initiative, arguing that it did not sufficiently address the realities on the ground in Gaza.
While much of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is centered around the events in Gaza, the broader war has reverberated across the region. Iran-aligned factions in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen all joined the battle from abroad in support of Hamas, with the Islamic Republic itself also twice exchanging direct fire with Israel as tensions boiled over.
Amid the unrest, and just as Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement signed a ceasefire, an Islamist-led coalition of insurgents launched a surprise attack in Syria. The lightning offensive ultimately toppled President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of Iran, as well as the DFLP, which maintains a presence in Syria.
The rise of Syria's new leader, Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda associate who has renounced jihadi ties in recent years, has brought new uncertainties over the country's role in the region. While facing regular Israeli air and ground attacks, Sharaa has called for easing tensions with Israel and has even opened the door for potentially normalizing ties, though Israeli officials have expressed skepticism.
At the same time, the new Syrian government has reportedly cracked down on several Palestinian factions involved in the war in Gaza, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and another PFLP splinter, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command.
Hamada, however, stated that the DFLP has maintained its relationship with the new rulers of Damascus and expects to do so for the foreseeable future.
"With the new political regime in Damascus, our situation, as a democratic front, remains the same," Hamada said. "We did not interfere during the era of President Assad, nor did we interfere during the era of President Sharaa. We have been refugees in Syria since 1948, and we do not have any military formations in Syria."
"Our headquarters, clubs, and social centers engage in social work, serving youth, women, and children, and defending the right of return for Palestinian refugees under Resolution 194," he added. "Our headquarters remained as they were before December 8, 2024, and we have not perceived any negative positions toward the Democratic Front from the new political regime."
He attributed this position to the DFLP having taken "the correct position" in Syria's civil war that erupted in 2011, having "refused to drown in Syrian blood and we have refused for our Palestinian people in Syria to be a party to Syrian disputes."
"We have a cause: the Palestinian cause," Hamada said, "and these are the political borders within which we operate."
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