Hours after the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas came into force, a senior Hamas official said the terrorist group was ready to start talks with the United States, creating tension in a country that Hamas has long favored in order to support Israel. .

The comments made by the official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, who lives in Qatar, show that some Hamas officials hope to be able to cooperate with the Trump administration even though the United States has designated Hamas as a terrorist group since 1997. .

Mr. Abu Marzouk’s words may also show that Hamas understands reinforced with fire prevention and believes that there will be opportunities to expand the group’s international relations.

“We are ready to negotiate with America and reach an understanding on everything,” Mr. Abu Marzouk, the first head of Hamas’ political office, said in a telephone interview on Sunday.

Beyond the United States, many Western countries also consider Hamas a terrorist organization, including Britain and Canada. But Hamas has sought to mend relations with Western governments, including issuing a policy document in 2017 that took higher positions than its founding document. The document called the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza a “state solution,” but it also rejected recognition of Israel.

The group has refused to stop violence and recognize Israel, and after an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was strongly opposed by the United States and European countries. The attack, experts say, was a reflection of the rise of hard-line leaders in a group that has encouraged violent conflict over a longstanding truce with Israel.

President Trump, however, has already expressed a willingness to do so to meet and longtime enemies of the United States such as Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea.

Mr. Abu Marzouk, a native of Gaza and a resident of Northern Virginia, is a member of the Hamas political office, but it is unclear whether he speaks for all senior Hamas leaders, including Mohammed Sinwar and Izzeldin al-Haddad, the powerful military commanders in Gaza. .

He is known as one of the most eloquent voices in Hamas and heads the Hamas foreign office. Some Hamas officials have invested heavily in building ties with members of the so-called axis of resistance, including Iran, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, the Iraqi army, and the Houthis in Yemen.

Mr. Abu Marzouk, 74, also said that Hamas was ready to receive a delegation from the Trump administration on the coast, despite the long-term American policy of providing Israel with billions of dollars in weapons and protection from international organizations. Hamas, he added, would provide protection even to such a foreigner.

“They can come to see the people and try to understand their thoughts and their wishes so that America’s position is based on the interests of all parties, not just one party,” he said.

Saturday, NBC News report that Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, was considering a trip to Gaza to help maintain a ceasefire, citing a Trump administration official with direct knowledge of the ceasefire plan.

The comments of the leader of Hamas were very different from what Hamas said during the first term of the Trump administration, which interfered with the relocation of the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the cutting of aid to the Palestinians, and the peace process. which greatly favored the Israelis.

When the Trump administration presented its plans, Hamas called them “shameful.”

One reason Hamas may want to reach out to the United States is to secure access to the supplies needed to rebuild Gaza without compromising its ability to remain the largest Palestinian group in the region.

Hamas may need to provide distractions if it wants enough aid to rebuild Gaza to enter the fence. Until now, the leaders of Hamas they have shown readiness abandoning civilian rule in Gaza, but without disbanding its army – a force that experts say will be similar to Hezbollah’s operation in Lebanon before its last war with Israel.

Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, Steven Cheung, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Abu Marzouk also gave high praise to Mr. Trump for his participation in supporting the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and called him “a great president.”

“If it wasn’t for President Trump, his insistence on ending the war, and sending a reliable envoy, this agreement would not have happened,” said Abu Marzouk, referring to Mr. Witkoff.

Although the agreement calls for “a permanent cessation of hostilities and hostilities,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the Israeli army will resume fighting Hamas after some of its hostages are released.

Along with Qatar and Egypt, members of the Biden administration, including White House chief of staff Brett McGurk and CIA director Bill Burns, played a key role in establishing the ceasefire agreement. But Mr. Witkoff helped push Israel to accept it by telling Mr. Netanyahu that Mr. Trump wanted him to fulfill it, according to officials who briefed him on undisclosed talks to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

However, Abu Marzouk stressed that Trump’s role is crucial to the deal’s conclusion, especially in putting pressure on Netanyahu.

“Of course, Trump gets credit for ending the war,” he said.