US President Donald Trump yesterday gave Hamas three to four days to accept a US-backed peace plan for Gaza, warning of ‘a very sad end’ if the group rejected the proposal that he said was close to ending the two-year-old conflict.
Mediators Qatar and Egypt shared the 20-point plan with Hamas after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had appeared alongside Trump at the White House and endorsed the document, saying it satisfied Israel’s war aims.
Hamas was not involved in the negotiations that led to the proposal, which calls on the group to disarm, a demand it has previously rejected.
However, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters that the group ‘would review it in good faith and provide a response’.
Trump said Israeli and Arab leaders had already endorsed the plan and that ‘we’re just waiting for Hamas’ to make its decision. He gave the group ‘three or four days’ to respond.
“Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end,” Trump said as he left the White House. Asked whether there was scope for further talks on the proposal, he replied: ‘Not much’.
The plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body. A source close to Hamas said the plan was ‘completely biased to Israel’ and imposed ‘impossible conditions’.
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