Hamas hesitation clouds Trump’s Gaza deal with Netanyahu

President Donald Trump secured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's backing on Monday for a US -sponsored peace proposal to end a nearly two-year-old war in Gaza, but questions loomed over whether Hamas would accept the plan.

Speaking at a joint White House press conference following a meeting with Netanyahu, Trump said they were "beyond very close" to an elusive peace deal for the Palestinian enclave. But he warned the Islamist group Hamas that Israel would have full US support to take whatever action it deemed necessary if the militants reject what he has offered.

The White House released a 20-point document that called for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas disarmament and a transitional government led by an international body.

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Trump went into Monday's meeting seeking to overcome Netanyahu's misgivings over parts of the plan. It was not immediately clear whether the Trump administration and Israel had resolved all their differences, including over the possibility of a future Palestinian State, which Netanyahu has forcefully rejected, and any role for the Palestinian Authority in post-war governance of the enclave.

Hamas response

However, Hamas remained the key to whether Trump's peace proposals get off the ground and was not involved in the negotiations.

The group's absence from negotiations and its previous repeated refusals to disarm raised doubts about the plan's viability and still holds 48 hostages, 20 of them still alive, Israel says.

A source close to Hamas told Reuters the plan was "completely biased to Israel" and imposed "impossible conditions" that aimed to eliminate the group.

However, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters early on Tuesday that Hamas negotiators "would review it in good faith and provide a response".

Hamas faces pressure

Trump warned Hamas that if it rejected his offer, Israel would have full US support to take whatever action it deemed necessary.

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.

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One of Hamas’s main conditions since the outset of the war has been a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of the remaining hostages. And while the group has indicated its readiness to relinquish administrative authority, it has consistently ruled out disarming.

"What Trump has proposed is the full adoption of all Israeli conditions, which do not grant the Palestinian people or the residents of the Gaza Strip any legitimate rights," a Palestinian official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

However, Hamas faces considerable pressure to accept the plan, with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt all welcoming the initiative.

Turkey's head of intelligence will join Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha to discuss the peace proposal later on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry said. Turkey has not previously been involved as a key mediator during efforts over the last two years to bring peace to Gaza.

It was unclear if Hamas officials would join Tuesday's meeting. The last time Hamas leaders gathered to discuss a US peace plan in Qatar, Israel tried, and failed, to kill them with a missile strike.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks during a dialogue at the International Bali Airshow at Ngurah Rai International Airport, in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, September 18, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS

Tony Blair and “Board of Peace”

The proposal says: "Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee," though it does not identify any Palestinian individual or group by name as being involved in the transition.

The panel would be supervised by a new international transitional body called the "Board of Peace." It would be headed by Trump and would include other heads of state and members, including Blair.

The committee would be responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities in Gaza and would be made up of "qualified Palestinians and international experts," who were not identified. Hamas would have no role in Gaza's governance.