Al-Hayya has represented Hamas in negotiations for a ceasefire deal and prisoner swap.
In the interview with AP, he said that Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headed by Palestinian Authorty (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, to form a unified government for Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.
According to al-Hayya, Hamas is willing to accept "a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions" along the pre-1967 borders.
Such a state would see central Israel become virtually impossible to defend, leaving Israel vulnerable to a de-facto split into two separate areas which would not be able to communicate with each other.
If Israel agreed to such a scenario, al-Hayya said, Hamas would dissolve its military wing.
Meanwhile, Hamas' political wing still "rejects any alternative to the full liberation of Palestine, from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea."
Al-Hayya did not tell AP whether such a two-state solution would end Hamas' war against Israel or simply represent an interim step towards the terror group's ultimate goal of destroying the Jewish state.
However, he claimed that Hamas' leadership in Gaza and abroad are in "uninterrupted" contact and that the two groups make decisions together.
He also claimed that Israel has not destroyed "more than 20%" of the terror group's "capabilities, neither human nor in the field." He added, "If they can’t finish [Hamas] off, what is the solution? The solution is to go to consensus."
According to al-Hayya, Hamas is genuinely interested in a prisoner swap deal, and has made concessions regarding the number of convicted terrorists it is demanding released for each Israeli hostage. But he also admitted that Hamas does not know how many hostages are still in Gaza, and how many are still alive.
At the same time, al-Hayya insisted that any prisoner swap include an end to the war: "If we are not assured the war will end, why would I hand over the prisoners?"
He added, "We categorically reject any non-Palestinian presence in Gaza, whether at sea or on land, and we will deal with any military force present in these places, Israeli or otherwise … as an occupying power."
Hamas does not regret the October 7 massacre, however, despite the war which ensued, and denied that Hamas terrorists targeted civilians in the attack on Israel, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
