DOHA, Qatar Six months into a war Hamas started with more than 33,000 Palestinians dead, more succumbing to famine daily and Israel determined to continue its aggressive campaign against the organization with robust American military support the militant group says it is confident it will wield significant influence in the future, come what may in Gaza.

Hamas believes its shock Oct. 7 attack on Israel achieved its goal of reigniting global concern for decades-long Palestinian subjugation, and it views the Israelis and Americans as intent on deepening the fighting rather than taking genuine steps toward an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. Additionally, it does not see itself as responsible for civilian deaths during that assault, in which Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 Israelis, more than half of them civilians, and took up to 240 hostages in violation of international law.

Thats how Mousa Abu Marzouk and Basem Naim, two senior Hamas leaders, presented their groups current thinking in two lengthy, separate recent interviews with HuffPost, providing extremely rare hours-long, in-person access to a Western media outlet after complex negotiations and amid an extraordinarily delicate time in the war.

The group acknowledged it still holds dozens of captives including about 40 people Hamas counts in a humanitarian category as noncombatants, among them some civilians, and likely five Americans (the number of U.S. citizens a State Department spokesperson said remain unaccounted for since Oct. 7). But the Hamas leaders expressed little faith in negotiations for a pause in combat involving the release of those hostages in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel, the stated goal of President Joe Biden, who in recent days has pushed Israel and intermediaries with Hamas to successfully reach an agreement.

Both Hamas leaders said their group remains committed to a 2017 political document that represented a tempering of its hard-line historic views a manifesto that claims Hamas has no quarrel with the Jewish people or Judaism broadly, instead opposing only aggressive actions fueled by Zionism. That suggests Hamas would accept a Palestinian state limited to territories Israel did not control before 1967, aligning it with the idea of a two-state solution.

Like the assertions of any player, particularly actual combatants, in this most sensitive of conflicts, their portrayal of the situation deserves to be taken with a large grain of salt.

Abu Marzouks own comments cast doubt on whether Hamas would tolerate a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel, particularly after Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed more extensive than any since the establishment of Israel in historic Palestine in 1948.

The Israelis are creating generation after generation full of hatred, full of rage, full of a feeling of taking revenge, by killing Palestinians on a daily basis I think that the Palestinians would not accept Israel in any case, but the Palestinians have no other option: The only option for the Palestinians is to live in this land to resist the occupation, Abu Marzouk told HuffPost via a translator. Claiming most Israelis have dual citizenship an assertion that is not borne out by publicly available evidence and was rejected by an Israeli official who said the government does not have statistics on the matter he added: They have a lot of options. And they can leave the land of Palestine at any time when they feel that its not beneficial anymore.

Meanwhile, international opprobrium over and research on Hamas Oct. 7 violence is still growing.

HuffPost this week obtained new information about one major forthcoming report. Belkis Wille, an associate director at Human Rights Watch who has spent months working on an in-depth investigation of the attack, told HuffPost her organization has verified photo and video evidence of fighters with the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, targeting and killing civilians, citing the attackers uniforms and bandannas. Some attackers who were in civilian clothing were also clearly coordinating with al-Qassam fighters, she added.

Still, Western and Arab governments, along with most outside experts, believe Hamas will remain relevant to the future of Israel-Palestine regardless of how the current war concludes. Abu Marzouk and Naim clearly agree.

In speaking with HuffPost about ideas being considered by the U.S., Israel and other players about what comes next for the region, the Hamas leaders expressed deep opposition to proposals that are currently under discussion and a determination to scuttle particular plans.

Abu Marzouk responded to reported discussions about a new military force in Gaza comprising troops from various countries, including Arab states, by saying: As a movement, we will fight against any force, whether it was from any nationality, in the Gaza Strip.

Few people would have presumed Hamas to align with American and Israeli goals. However, Abu Marzouks reference to nationalities is striking, given the assumption in some circles that Hamas and other militants in Gaza would be loath to fight forces from countries like Egypt due to Palestinians links with other Arab nations. His remarks suggest that although Hamas is not outright challenging Arab governments, it does not see a red line in attacking their soldiers.

No Arab country would participate with the Israeli occupation or with American policy in Gaza, even if those states are unable to openly confront U.S. or Israeli policies, Abu Marzouk said. No one has the right to subjugate the Palestinians for slavery or for oppression.

He and Naim also challenged hopes around the March 14 appointment of economist Mohammed Mustafa as the new prime minister of the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority, or PA, which controls parts of the occupied West Bank and from which Hamas wrested control of Gaza in 2007. Significantly, they framed their rejection not as a product of factionalism among Palestinians Hamas has long despised PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who tapped Mustafa but as a reaction to U.S.-driven interference in intra-Palestinian discussions.

To continue imposing policies and governments and figures on Palestinians, this will never lead to sustainable security or stability or prosperity in the region, not only in Palestine, argued Naim, who was previously a minister in Hamas administration in Gaza. Hamas is an inherent part of the political fabric of the Palestinians and is a strong power, and no one can easily decide to overcome it or to avoid it. Any agreement with any other party will not lead to stability or a solution.

This story draws on HuffPosts interviews and conversations about Hamas over months with dozens of officials and analysts.

Securing access to Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas in the Palestinian diaspora and a prominent politburo member, and Naim, chief of Hamas political and foreign relations department and a member of its Gaza bureau, was not easy.

It involved tapping a range of trusted sources to make contact, investing in costly travel and tactfully operating in a sensitive location, given Qatars interest in being the chief mediator between Hamas and the outside world and pressure from some in the U.S. over its links to the Palestinian group.

When HuffPost visited Abu Marzouk at a large, beige compound in a suburb of the Qatari capital of Doha a world away from the Persian Gulf states ritzy sea-front hotels a Qatari police officer stationed outside repeatedly challenged the idea that a meeting was scheduled. Inside, another Qatari security official subjected HuffPost to an extensive search, a step Abu Marzouks Hamas aides apologized for, seemed embarrassed about and made sure to say was due to Qatars requirements. (Notably, Israel has tried to assassinate senior Hamas figures, such as Khaled Meshal, a close associate of Abu Marzouk.)

We also did not take the prospect of hearing and sharing Hamas views lightly.

Still, HuffPost assessed that interviewing Abu Marzouk and Naim provided an uncommon opportunity to inform our audience and to question Hamas about global concerns and its actions on matters including harming civilians and the handling of humanitarian relief desperately needed in Gaza.