Senior Hamas commanders prepare to leave Gaza

[Twiglets1]

According to the Saudi owned newspaper Ashaq Al- Awsat, senior Hamas leaders are preparing to leave Gaza as part of the move towards Phase Two. The report cited three Hamas sources and said the departures would take place after arrangements are finalised regarding Gaza’s future governance.

Palestinian sources said the emerging framework would allow a technocratic administration to enter Gaza only alongside the departure of certain Hamas figures, chief amongst them being Izz Al-Din Haddad, head of Hamas’s military wing. It remained unclear whether Haddad would leave voluntarily.

According to the report, some of those expected to depart were recently appointed to leadership roles in Hamas’s Gaza based political bureau as part of a re-organisation by Ali al-Amoudi, a close associate of Yahya Sinwar, who led the October 7th massacre and was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024.

The report said that some Hamas figures from both the political and military wings who survived more than two years of fighting are preparing for a co-ordinated exit while others, particularly within the military wing, have refused to leave.

Sources in Gaza said the departures could be long-term, with senior Hamas figures living abroad for several years, while others may leave temporarily for talks in Egypt on further security arrangements before returning.

Who would want them? Although, do these include those living in luxury elsewhere whilst watching and instructing over the destruction?

Qatar?

Also from the Hamas leadership perspective it seems that a good "now or never" deal.

They can stick around in rubble filled Gaza facing a local population angry and out to get them for starting this mess or live out their lives in a luxury Qatari villa, blaming those nasty Jews but still proclaiming to be a "freedom fighter" between snorting lines of coke and various prostitutes.

Hopefully they will go. There will be some idiots, in the west, listening to their every utterance of freedom fighting, giving them celebrity status ignoring what they did.

..preferably in a box

Ooohhh, good. They can come and stay with me! I'd love to have them here. There are endless things I'd like to do with them, locked in a dark cupboard.

It could be a step in the right direction for them to leave Gaza but also makes me kind of sick that they could get a “safe exit” after so many innocent people have been killed because of their actions.

Israel’s public broadcaster reported that Hamas leaders would most likely head to Qatar or Türkiye if they left Gaza. Israel’s Channel 12 previously reported that Hamas officials told US officials they were prepared to accept a limited relocation of military leaders and some operatives from Gaza.

On Jan. 14, US envoy Steve Witkoff officially announced the launch of the second phase of the ceasefire, which includes Hamas relinquishing control of Gaza, establishing a Palestinian technocratic committee to administer the enclave, initiating a comprehensive disarmament process, and launching large-scale reconstruction projects.

Hamas welcomed the announcement, saying it had fulfilled all requirements for completing the first phase and moving to the second, while continuing discussions with mediators over options regarding its weapons and those of other Palestinian factions.

english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5231623-hamas-leaders-prepare-safe-exit-gaza-amid-doubts-over-return

Just hope they can never ever be given positions of power anywhere or return to Gaza. They brought the place to its knees with their terrorist actions.

Also being reported in Times of Israel now:

The US and key Gaza mediators have begun quiet talks with Hamas on a plan to gradually disarm the terror group and dismantle its military infrastructure in the Strip, Channel 12 news reports.

According to the report, discussions involving the US alongside Qatar, Turkey and Egypt have been underway for roughly two to three weeks. The plan presented to Hamas reportedly calls for the immediate destruction of heavy weapons, tunnels, arms-production sites and terror infrastructure, followed by a prolonged, phased process to collect and dismantle personal weapons held by Hamas operatives and other gunmen.

Under the proposal, those who agree to hand over their weapons would be offered either safe passage out of Gaza or integration into the security forces of a future Palestinian technocratic government tasked with running the Strip, the report says. In parallel, the US would seek to establish a Palestinian police force subordinate to that technocratic administration, with exclusive authority over the use of force.

Channel 12 reports that the plan also envisions a gradual withdrawal by the IDF from positions inside Gaza, including a phased pullback from the Yellow Line, contingent on progress in disarmament. Reconstruction efforts, as outlined by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner in Davos earlier today, would likewise be tied to compliance with the weapons handover.

The Channel 12 report follows a similar Ynet report published two days ago, citing Palestinian sources and the Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, which said that several senior Hamas commanders are expected to depart the Strip as part of arrangements linked to the next phase of the ceasefire and the entry of a technocratic administration.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-us-led-plan-would-see-hamas-disarm-senior-figures-exit-gaza/

On the one hand, better for the Gazan population to be rid of them.

On the other hand, it's a shame the people they've tyrannised will never have the opportunity to give them the Ceaucescu treatment.

I suppose on balance them going free is a price worth paying for them going quietly, but fingers crossed someone pushes them all out of windows should it ever become less of a political risk.