Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad says the group’s experience with the United States’ mediation efforts is “bitter”, adding that Washington lacks credibility given that its administration withdrew its proposal for a truce in Gaza.

According to Hamad, who spoke to Al Jazeera, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to change the face of the Middle East requires an Arab response.

The Hamas political bureau member also said that the group does not need dictation from US President Donald Trump on how to treat the Israeli captives it holds.

“He [Trump] doesn’t scare us,” Hamad said, adding that the captives were treated based on the group’s “beliefs and Islamic principles”.

The Hamas official concluded: “We deal with the prisoners according to our values, and despite the massacres against our people, the one putting them in danger is the [Israeli] occupation itself.”