Hamas ‘unlikely to accept Trump’s Gaza peace plan’
Hamas officials say they’re unlikely to agree to disarming and handing over their weapons, as Donald Trump says if they reject the deal they’ll ‘pay in hell’.
A senior Hamas official has told the BBC the group is likely to reject Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, saying it “serves Israel’s interests” and “ignores those of the Palestinian people”.
As the militant group continues to study the proposal, other senior figures described it as “unjust and biased”, but said the group would deal with it “with absolute positivity”.
CBS reports that after arriving at a response to the proposal, Hamas and other Palestinian groups will present it to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
The proposal demands that Hamas effectively surrenders and disarms in return for an end to fighting, free access for humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the promise of reconstruction in Gaza.
As backing and support pour in for the proposal from the international community, the US President on Tuesday said Hamas had “three or four days” to respond or would “pay in hell”.
Anthony Albanese backed the plan and urged all parties to the conflict to “bring its vision into reality”, as Jewish groups demanded the Prime Minister use his new-found connections with Palestine’s factions to help get it across the line.
The US President said it was a “historic day” as he unveiled his 20-point peace plan requiring Hamas to release its remaining hostages within 72 hours and lay down its weapons in return for the phased withdrawal of Israel forces and the longer-term redevelopment of the territory.
At the head of the proposal is a promised new “Board of Peace” to oversee the administration of Gaza that would include former British prime minister Tony Blair and be “headed and chaired by President Donald J Trump”.
Gaza peace plan: Can Donald Trump make Hamas surrender?
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which holds some of the hostages in Gaza, has already rejected the plan.
The group’s leader, Ziyad an-Nakhala, denounced it as a “formula for perpetuating Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people”.
Hamas officials told the BBC and Arab media that the group was unlikely to agree to disarming and handing over its weapons – a key condition of Mr Trump’s plan.
Hamas sources told the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat the plan gave Israel too much latitude over the pace of its pullout from Gaza and offered no binding guarantees.
They also said Mr Trump’s proposed 72-hour deadline to free all 48 hostages was unrealistic. Asharq al-Awsat said the group cited logistical challenges in retrieving remains of hostages buried under rubble as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
The BBC reports that the group objects to handing over all of the hostages in one go, which would mean losing its only bargaining chip. Hamas does not trust Israel not to resume its military operations once it has received the hostages, according to the broadcaster.
Israel’s far-right has slammed the plan, with Defence Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir describing it as “full of holes” and “dangerous to Israel’s security”.
Mr Ben-Gvir told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet: “I understand there was pressure on you, but you should never have gone along with an agreement that’s full of holes like this.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also attacked the proposal, predicting it would “end in tears”.
Announcing the plan on Tuesday (AEST), Mr Trump, who has relentlessly pursued a Nobel peace prize, said it was aimed to bring “eternal peace to the Middle East” and marked “potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilisation”.
As he stood beside Mr Netanyahu at the White House, Mr Trump warned he would give the green light to Israel to “do what you would have to do” if the terrorist group refused to agree to the plan. “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,” the President said.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to do just that, declaring: “This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way. But it will be done.”
Hours after the announcement, Qatari officials reportedly told Mr Trump they were “capable of persuading Hamas to agree to a deal that includes demilitarisation”. Hamas negotiators said they had received the plan and were willing to “study (it) in good faith and provide a response”.
Under the peace blueprint, none of Gaza’s residents would be forcibly removed, while the Palestinian Authority would be sidelined from any administrative role in Gaza until it finalised sweeping reforms.
In the long-term, the territory would be redeveloped as a “New Gaza” that was committed to building a prosperous economy and living peacefully with its neighbours.
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, Mr Albanese welcomed the plan to “bring peace to Gaza after two years of conflict” and demanded Hamas give up its arms and accept the proposal. “Australia wants to see aid given to the desperate people of Gaza who need this peace plan,” he said.
Mr Albanese, whose government last week formally recognised Palestine despite US objections, commended what he said was the plan’s “focus on Palestinian self-determination and statehood, and the Palestinian Authority taking back effective control of Gaza”.
Yet the deal offers no support for an immediate two-state solution, saying instead that Palestinian self-determination would hinge on the redevelopment of Gaza and the faithful execution of the Palestinian Authority’s reform program.
Mr Trump used his appearance with Mr Netanyahu to take aim at America’s allies which had “foolishly” recognised the state of Palestine, and made clear that “we can never forget October 7”.
The Foreign Ministers of Arab and Muslim nations – including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt – issued a joint statement welcoming Mr Trump’s “sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza and … their confidence in his ability to find a path to peace”.
The grouping said the plan provided a “mechanism that guarantees the security of all sides” as well as the delivery of aid, no displacement of Palestinians, an Israeli withdrawal, the rebuilding of Gaza and a “path for a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said: “While western governments were engaged in gesture politics and theatrics at the UN, the US administration has developed a mechanism to immediately and permanently end this war, free the hostages, and guarantee the peaceful reconstruction of Gaza and a pathway to permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace”.
Writing in The Australian, he challenged Mr Albanese to do his part “to ensure the Palestinians uphold their side of the bargain”.
“For starters, our government can’t simply say it endorses this peace plan, it needs to work with the UK, Canada and France in applying maximum pressure on all Palestinian factions to accept and implement it without delay,” Mr Ryvchin said.
The Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network condemned the peace proposal as a “plan for entrenched colonisation by a war criminal”, arguing that it was illegal under international law and failed to guarantee sovereignty for Palestinians.
APAN president Nasser Mashni said it instead cemented external control rather than empowering Palestinians to govern themselves and “imagines a future for Palestinians decided entirely by outsiders.”
If both sides agree to the US proposal “the war will immediately end”, and Israeli forces would withdraw to an “agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release”. During this time, military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, would be suspended, and battle lines would be frozen until conditions were met for a complete staged withdrawal.
The plan would require the US to work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary “International Stabilisation Force” that would “immediately deploy” in Gaza. It would be charged with training and providing support to “vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza” and, as it established greater control and stability, the Israel Defence Forces would withdraw based on the meeting of agreed milestones.
Mr Netanyahu’s acceptance of the proposal marked the start of the 72-hour window for the release of all hostages, alive or dead. Following this, Israel would release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7, 2023 including all women and children “detained in that context:
For every Israeli hostage whose remains were released, Israel would need to release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
Following the return of all hostages, Hamas members who committed themselves to “peaceful coexistence” with Israel would be given amnesty while those that wished to leave Gaza would be provided safe passage to countries willing to receive them.
Upon the agreement of the proposal by Hamas, aid would be immediately sent into Gaza and its entry and distribution would be guaranteed by the UN, its agencies, the Red Crescent and other international bodies.
Gaza would be governed on a temporary, transitional basis by a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee,” responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee would be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by the new “Board of Peace”.
In addition, Mr Trump has proposed an “economic development plan” to rebuild and re-energise Gaza through the convening of a panel of experts “who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East”.
A special economic zone would be established with “preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries”.
Hamas would have no role in the governance of Gaza, “directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt”.
The demilitarisation of Gaza would proceed under the supervision of independent monitors.
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