Qassem stressed that Hamas never sought to be part of post-war arrangements, later agreeing to form a national committee to manage Gaza. He said the movement demanded pressure on Israel to allow the committee’s swift entry, adding that Hamas has taken all political, legal, and security steps to transfer authority.

He criticized Mladenov’s remarks on ceasefire breaches as “too general,” insisting that Israel is solely responsible, having killed more than 850 Palestinians, restricted aid, and shifted the “yellow line” westward. Qassem argued that Mladenov should have pointed directly to Israeli violations, contrasting them with Hamas and other factions’ full compliance, in order to advance implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan.

Qassem emphasized that peace in Gaza requires pressure on Israel to fulfill the first-stage commitments, followed by “logical and reasonable” discussions on the second stage. This includes the entry of the national committee, deployment of international forces, Israeli withdrawals, and addressing the Palestinian weapons file.

He concluded that Hamas has engaged positively with mediator proposals to reach practical approaches for the second stage of the agreement.