Hamas Research Department Defines Red Lines in Peace Council Negotiations

On Tuesday evening, Kan News revealed a document from Hamas's research department addressed to the organization's leadership, outlining Hamas's red lines in ongoing negotiations with the Peace Council. The document criticizes the proposal by Peace Council Chairman Nikolay Mladenov for lacking a firm commitment to a full Israeli withdrawal in the initial phase. Instead, the proposal's vague language grants Israel veto power over the transition between phases, which Hamas views as turning the agreement into a tool for Israeli blackmail. Hamas demands that phase transitions be automatic and bound by fixed timelines.

The second red line concerns security arrangements. Hamas objects to Mladenov's conditions that would allow the growth of local armed groups allied with Israel to fill security vacuums and attempts to restrict Hamas's weapons. The research department warns that such local armed factions linked to Israel would cause chaos and insists on their disbandment. Meanwhile, Hamas's "resistance weapons" are described as legitimate defensive tools recognized under international law, to be regulated by the temporary Palestinian leadership until the end of Israeli occupation.

The third red line involves humanitarian issues. Hamas rejects linking the payment of civil servants' salaries and the entry of reconstruction materials to Israeli security checks. The research department firmly opposes using humanitarian matters as leverage and calls for immediate activation of the international fund for salary payments and transferring reconstruction oversight to an independent Palestinian national body. The document was published amid reports of security officers touring Gaza ahead of the technocratic government's formation and Hamas's plans to strengthen its position in Gaza in light of the Trump administration's peace plan.