Five takeaways from CNN’s interview with key Hamas negotiator

By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

Doha (CNN) — CNN interviewed a key Hamas negotiator and member of the militant group’s political bureau, Ghazi Hamad, this week, at a key moment in the war with Israel.

Two weeks earlier, Hamad had survived an attack on the Hamas delegation in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which has been a key mediator in the conflict. The interview covered a wide range of topics – how Hamas now regards October 7, the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza, the state of ceasefire negotiations and the future of a post-war Gaza.

Here are the key takeaways from what he said:

Hamas remains unapologetic about October 7

Nearly two years after Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, Hamad made clear that Hamas has no regrets about its actions that day nor the deadly consequences they triggered.

He repeated a false claim by Hamas, insisting it targeted only Israeli military installations and that it never intended to kidnap civilians. He insisted the attack was justified because of decades of Israeli occupation and blockade. And rather than taking responsibility for the role of the attack in triggering Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, he made clear he believes the Palestinian cause has been boosted by Hamas’s attack.

“You know what is the benefit of October 7 now?” Hamad asked, before listing off growing international support for a Palestinian cause.

“I think this is a golden moment for the world to change the history,” he said.

Interestingly, his argument is not far from the talking points of senior Israeli officials, who have lambasted a wave of recognition of Palestinian statehood as a “reward for terrorism.” At the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded the actions – many by traditional allies of Israel, as “shameful, sheer madness and insane.”

Hamad and Netanyahu both seem eager to draw a direct line from October 7 to this moment of growing support for the Palestinian cause.

In a social media post Friday morning, Israel’s Foreign Ministry characterized Hamad’s comments to CNN as “a thank you note to Emmanuel Macron from senior Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad.”

Hamad justifies the ‘high price’ Palestinian civilians have paid

In the interview, Hamad made no apologies for the massive price Palestinians have paid in the nearly two years since Hamas triggered the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023: More than 65,000 Palestinians killed by Israel, nearly all the two million Gazans displaced from their homes, and Gaza in ruins.

Hamad’s response to it all: “I know the price (is) so high, but I’m asking again, what is the option?”

Pressed repeatedly on whether Hamas bears any responsibility for the death and destruction it triggered on October 7, Hamad – who has previously said Palestinians are “proud to sacrifice martyrs” – demurred and deflected.

Even when confronted with the voices of Palestinians in Gaza who do hold Hamas responsible and are calling on Hamas to lay down its weapons for the sake of ending the war, Hamad was defiant.

Instead, he made clear he believes that provoking Israel’s overwhelming attacks on Gaza and the ensuing deaths of Palestinians was both necessary and justified. And Hamas’ belief in the legitimacy of armed resistance as the pathway to its aims appears as rock-solid as ever.

“What do you expect for the Palestinian to do, just to keep silent and all the world is watching the suffering of the Palestinian people and doing nothing?” Hamad said.

Negotiations ‘frozen’ – with little prospect of compromise

Notwithstanding the latest claim by US President Donald Trump on Friday that a deal to end the war is “close,” Hamad described talks as “frozen.”

Two weeks after he and other senior Hamas officials were targeted in an Israeli strike, Hamad said there has been no movement to get negotiations back on track.

He blamed Israel for the deadlock, saying its attempt to assassinate him and other Hamas negotiations signalled that it is “not interested in negotiation.”

For those who will pore over this interview, looking for clues to indicate that Hamas is looking for an off-ramp or prepared to make concessions where red lines once stood, they will be sorely disappointed.

Hamad said Hamas is still interested in an all-encompassing deal to end the war in which it would release all 48 remaining hostages, but he offered no indication of any shift in its fundamental positions, such as its opposition to the demand by Israel and much of the international community that the militant group be completely disarmed.

Even as Israel has launched a major invasion of Gaza City, Hamad offered little indication that Israel’s military pressure is impacting the group’s core negotiating positions.

Distrust in American mediators

With talks frozen and a new US proposal to end the war circulating among Arab countries, it’s clear that the United States will continue to be the key player in negotiations around any potential ceasefire and hostage release deal.

So it was especially notable to hear Hamad more critical than conciliatory in his remarks about the US and Trump.

Hamad accused the US president of giving “the green light” for Israel’s attempt to assassinate him (which the US denies) and accused US negotiators of having “lost their credibility” by walking back previous proposals.

“They could not prove that they are an honest and neutral mediator,” Hamad said.

Still, he said he believes the pathway to ending the war runs through Trump.

Trump, he said, should “impose his position on Israel in order to stop the war.”

“But I think it is not easy to trust Mr. Trump or to trust the American administration all the time,” Hamad said. “They put on the glasses of Israel. They adopt the Israeli position.”

Nowhere is safe for Hamas leaders

Two weeks after he and other Hamas leaders were targeted in Doha, Hamas’s leaders have been left with a clear conclusion: Nowhere is safe for them.

Any sense of safety that once existed in the Qatari capital – a longtime haven for Hamas officials, with the tacit agreement of the US and Israel – has now been shattered. So too has the trust between Israel and Qatar, a critical channel for backchannel diplomacy.

“No, no one can be safe,” Hamad said when asked if he feels safe in Doha. “(Israel) is a crazy state. They could do anything you expect.”

That concern about security was clear as CNN arrived for the interview with Hamad in Doha. His security detail conducted a thorough sweep: No phones were allowed in the room; even pens were collected for last-minute inspection before the interview began.

Nadeen Ebrahim contributed additional reporting.

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