Hamas names independent candidates for Gaza’s administration, official says​

Mohammed Nazal made the remarks to Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network in an interview on Saturday.

He stressed that the proposed technocratic committee aimed to improve humanitarian management and governance in Gaza amid ongoing challenges.

Earlier this month, the group agreed to hand over Gaza’s administration to a Palestinian body during indirect talks in Egypt, which were held based on proposal forwarded by Donald Trump.

The US president says the plan is aimed at ending more than two years of genocide by the regime against the Palestinian territory.

Nazal also addressed another provision agreed during the negotiations by Hamas, which featured its releasing Zionist captives with Palestinian prisoners.

He pointed to the group’s commitment that had seen it return all the living captives, underscoring it was similarly committed to realize the return of the deceased ones too.

“We remain committed to returning what we have of the bodies of the deceased ones,” the official said.

Israeli officials have been faulting, what they have called, Hamas’ refusal to return all the bodies, while the movement has underlined that the immense debris resulting from the genocide has made it very difficult for the group to recover some of the corpses.

The Hamas official highlighted the urgent need for heavy equipment and specialized teams to recover the bodies of Palestinians trapped under the rubble too.

The official also condemned attempts to pressure Palestinians through continued closure of the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, calling on mediators to hold Tel Aviv accountable and ensure the crossing was reopened in line with the terms of prior agreements.

He also expressed willingness for the group to enter the second phase of the ceasefire proposal, once the obligations of the first phase were met.

The official attributed delays to political obstruction by Israeli authorities.