Hamas yesterday was reviewing US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would stay in most of the territory after he gave the US president his backing.
The plan calls for a ceasefire, release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, disarmament of Hamas and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump.
“Hamas has begun a series of consultations within its political and military leaderships, both inside Palestine and abroad,” a Palestinian source said on condition of anonymity. “The discussions could take several days due to the complexities.”
Photo: EPA
Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ exiled leadership, said the group had promised to study the proposal “responsibly,” and also said it would hold a meeting on the plan with Hamas and Turkey later yesterday.
“It is still too early to speak about responses, but we are truly optimistic that this plan, as we said, is a comprehensive one,” Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.
In Washington on Monday Trump described the announcement of the plan as a “beautiful day — potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilization.”
The deal would demand Hamas militants fully disarm and be excluded from future roles in the government, but those who agreed to “peaceful coexistence” would be given amnesty.
It would also see a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, after nearly two years of war sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
However, in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel after his joint news conference with Trump, Netanyahu said the military would stay in most of Gaza, and also said he did not agree to a Palestinian state during his talks in Washington.
“We will recover all our hostages, alive and well, while the [Israeli military] will remain in most of the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich criticized the plan as a “resounding diplomatic failure.”
“In my estimation, it will also end in tears. Our children will be forced to fight in Gaza again,” Smotrich said.
Trump’s plan includes the deployment of a “temporary international stabilization force” and the creation of a transitional authority headed by Trump himself and including former British prime minister Tony Blair.
Blair, still widely hated in the Middle East for his role in the 2003 Iraq war, hailed the “bold and intelligent” plan.
During his news conference with Trump, Netanyahu cast doubt on whether the Palestinian Authority, which nominally runs Palestinian population centers in the occupied West Bank, would be allowed a role in Gaza’s governance.
Trump said that during their meeting Netanyahu had strongly opposed any Palestinian statehood — something that the US plan leaves room for.
“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza which achieves our war aims,” Netanyahu said. “If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself.”
Trump said that Israel would have his “full backing” to do so if Hamas did not accept the deal.
In Gaza, people were skeptical.
“It’s clear that this plan is unrealistic,” 39-year-old Ibrahim Joudeh said from his shelter in the so-called humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
“It’s drafted with conditions that the US and Israel know Hamas will never accept. For us, that means the war and the suffering will continue,” said the computer programmer, originally from the southern city of Rafah, devastated by a military offensive that began in May.
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