Hamas declared on Sunday evening that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a “persona non grata” in the Palestinian context, stressing that the movement has not received any proposal through mediators regarding a ceasefire.
اضافة اعلان
The remarks came from Hamas political bureau member Hussam Badran, in statements published on the movement’s Telegram channel.
This followed a report in the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, quoting an Arab political source, that the U.S. administration had formulated a plan to appoint Blair to head a temporary administration for Gaza.
Badran said, “Associating any plan with this individual (Blair), who is unwelcome, is an ill omen for the Palestinian people,” adding that Blair is a “negative figure” who perhaps deserves to face international courts for crimes he committed, particularly his role in the Iraq war (2003–2011).
He described Blair as the “brother of the devil,” asserting that “he has brought no good to the Palestinian cause, nor to Arabs and Muslims, and his criminal and destructive role has been well known for years.”
Badran stressed that “managing Palestinian affairs in Gaza or the West Bank is an internal Palestinian matter that must be based on national consensus. No regional or international party has the right to impose on the Palestinian people how to run their affairs.”
He added that the Palestinian people are capable of managing themselves, saying: “We have the resources and Palestinian expertise necessary to manage our affairs and our relations with the region and the world.”
Badran further noted: “Since December 2023, Hamas’s leadership has made an internal decision—which we shared with the factions and several friendly states—that we do not wish to continue governing Gaza alone, even before the escalation of war and devastation against our people.”
Regarding the proposed ceasefire plan circulated in Israeli and American media, he emphasized: “We have not received any official proposal through mediators, which is usually the channel for such ideas and initiatives.” He added, “So far, everything we hear is only through the media, but officially nothing has reached us regarding what is being discussed by (U.S. President) Trump or others.”
He pointed out that this is not the first time the U.S., in coordination with Israel, has floated various initiatives, which usually take time to crystallize before being formally presented to Hamas via mediators.
Earlier on Sunday, Hamas said in a statement that ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have been stalled since Israel’s failed assassination attempt against Hamas leaders in Doha on September 9, and that it has not received any new proposals.
This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday presented a 21-point plan to Arab and Muslim leaders aimed at ending Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On August 18, Hamas agreed to a mediator-brokered proposal for a partial ceasefire and prisoner exchange, but Israel did not respond, despite the plan aligning with a previous proposal put forward by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, which Israel had initially approved.
Meanwhile, the Israeli opposition and families of captives accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing any chance of reaching a deal to end the war and secure the return of captives, prioritizing his political survival. Hamas has already agreed to both partial and comprehensive mediator proposals.
Domestically, Netanyahu faces corruption trials that could see him imprisoned if convicted, while the International Criminal Court has issued a request for his arrest on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in Gaza.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel—with U.S. backing—has carried out genocide in Gaza, leaving 66,005 Palestinians martyred and 168,162 wounded, the majority of them children and women. Famine has also claimed the lives of 442 Palestinians, including 147 children. –(Agencies)
