Hamas leader, in rare television interview, demands ‘real guarantees’ to end Gaza war

Al-Hayya’s remarks directly challenge the optimism expressed in Washington, where President Donald Trump and senior officials have said they believe an agreement is within reach.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who is heading the terror group’s delegation to ceasefire talks in Egypt, said Tuesday that Hamas wants “real guarantees” to ensure an end to the Gaza war.

Speaking from Sharm el Sheikh in a rare on-camera interview with Egypt’s Al-Qahera Al-Ikhbariya, al-Hayya said the group had come “with the goal of ending the war, achieving an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, and completing a prisoner exchange — the release of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead, and the Palestinian prisoners that were discussed, according to the Trump plan.”

Al-Hayya cited past experience with Israel during previous ceasefires, saying Hamas would not agree to a deal without binding assurances that Israel will not resume military operations after hostages are freed.

“We are demanding real guarantees,” he said, reflecting the group’s suspicion that Israel could restart the fighting once its captives are released.

His remarks directly challenge the optimism expressed in Washington, where President Donald Trump and senior officials have said they believe an agreement is within reach.

Trump told reporters this week that the United States is “very close” to brokering a deal that would bring “lasting peace” to the region and that his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, “will not leave Egypt without a deal.”

The president said the U.S. would “do everything possible” to make sure all sides adhere to the terms once agreed upon.

But Hamas’s latest demand for guarantees—along with differences over the order of hostage releases and Israeli withdrawal—has cast new doubt on whether a breakthrough is imminent.

A Hamas official previously told Al Jazeera that the group insists Israel complete its withdrawal as soon as the last hostage is released, a position that contradicts Trump’s 20-point peace plan calling for all hostages to be freed first.

Hamas is also reportedly demanding the release of at least six terrorists jailed for mass murder, including Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader who played a key role in the Second Intifada. The uprising, from 2000 to 2005, killed more than 1,000 civilians in terror attacks on buses, cafés, and public spaces.

Hamas is also reportedly demanding the release of Abbas al-Sayyid, a terrorist serving a life sentence for orchestrating the 2002 Passover massacre in Netanya, which claimed 30 lives.