Bishara Bahbah, Who Mediates Between U.S. Administration And Hamas, Tells Of Direct Contact, Meetings With Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad, Who Promised More October 7 Attacks

Memri

2 days ago

Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman who heads the Arab Americans for Peace association and who has served in the past several months as a liaison between the U.S. administration and the Hamas movement, stated in a recent interview with Al-Ghad TV that he has direct contact with Hamas leaders, particularly with Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad. It should be noted that Ghazi Hamad stated in the past that Hamas was willing to stage more terror attacks like the one on October 7, 2023, and that the movement's goal was the elimination of Israel. On a different occasion he said that resistance was the only way to eliminate Israel and that Hamas rejected the two-state solution.
Bishara Bahbah (image: alarabiya.net) and Ghazi Hamad (image: alghad.tv)
The following are excerpts from Bahabah's interview in which he described his ties with Ghazi Hamad, and past statements by Hamad that were translated and published by MEMRI.
Bahbah: I Have Direct Contact With Hamas Leaders; I Met Dr. Ghazi Hamad For Lunch
Asked about the recent reports regarding the arrival of a Hamas delegation in Cairo and whether he has direct contact with the Hamas movement, Bahbah said: "I met with Dr. Ghazi Hamad from Hamas. We had lunch together and discussed the issues on the [negotiation] table, especially the outstanding issues. Hamas is considerably aware of the necessity to find a swift solution to the situation in Gaza." He added: "Indeed, there are direct contacts with Hamas leaders."
"In response to a question about whether, in his capacity as an unofficial mediator, he conveyed his conclusions from the meetings with Hamad and the Hamas leadership to the U.S. administration or to those responsible, Bahbah said: "Of course, I convey my messages on a daily basis, especially if there is any development..." He added; "I did not expect to become a mediator, but Dr. Hamad contacted me after requesting my phone number from Mrs. Suha Arafat [the widow of PLO leader Yasser Arafat]. That's how the connection began. He approached me, and after that I communicated with [U.S. Middle East envoy] Steve Witkoff and we reached an agreement for the release of American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander…"
Bahbah also addressed the problematicity of contact between the U.S. administration and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., and the major controversy that erupted a few months ago when the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, made unprecedented contact with Hamas leaders. Asked whether he believes this track can continue, Bahbah said: "This U.S. administration is realistic in its way of thinking. Witkoff is a government official. I am not a government official. I am not reimbursed for my expenses or my travel costs by anyone. I pay all my expenses myself. In that regard, I am an American citizen of Palestinian origin, and what applies to Boehler does not apply to me. Legally speaking, Hamas is indeed designated as a terror organization, but that does not mean that, in the future, it cannot have a political role [or be part of] the Palestinian political fabric…"[1]
Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad In October 2023: We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; Everything We Do Is Justified
As stated, Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad, with whom Bahbah met, said on October 24, 2023, only two weeks after Hamas' October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 Israelis were murdered and about 250 were taken hostage, that Hamas was prepared to repeat this attack again and again until Israel was annihilated.
See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10923 – Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified , November 1, 2023.
In an interview on November 20, 2024, he said that resistance was the only way to eliminate Israel and that Hamas never accepted the two-state solution.
See MEMRI TV Clip No. 11585 – Senior Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: We Never Said That We Accept The Two-State Solution; Nobody Expected Such A Barbaric Reaction From Israel; We Had No Alternative To October 7, November 20, 2024.