Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas partially accepts his peace plan

Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas partially accepts his peace plan

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: US President Donald Trump on Friday ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for the implementation of the “first stage” of Trump’s plan, apparently referring to the release of hostages. But his office said in a statement that Israel was committed to ending the war based on principles it has set out before, without addressing potential gaps with Hamas.

Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.”

“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out,” he wrote on social media.

Hamas said aspects of the proposal touching on the future of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights should be decided on the basis of a “unanimous Palestinian stance” reached with other factions and based on international law.

The statement also made no mention of Hamas disarming, a key Israeli demand included in Trump’s proposal.

Latest ceasefire effort is widely welcomed

Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday.

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Key mediators Egypt and Qatar welcomed the latest developments, and Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said they would “continue discussions on the plan.”

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he “urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end.” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that “the release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!”

The main organization representing the families of Israeli hostages said Trump’s demand to halt the fighting “is essential to prevent serious and irreversible harm to the hostages.” It called on Netanyahu “to immediately begin efficient and swift negotiations to bring all our hostages home.”

Trump’s plan would end the fighting and return hostages

Earlier, Trump had warned that Hamas must agree to the deal by Sunday evening, threatening an even greater military onslaught.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump wrote Friday on social media. “THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”

Under the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Netanyahu, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive — within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction. Plans to relocate much of Gaza’s population to other countries would be shelved.

The territory of some 2 million Palestinians would be placed under international governance, with Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. The plan provides no path for eventual reunification with the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a future Palestinian state.

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Palestinians long for an end to the war, but many view this and previous US proposals as strongly favoring Israel.

Hamas officials air objections in TV interviews

Trump’s proposal “cannot be implemented without negotiations,” Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official based outside of Gaza, told the Al Jazeera network on Friday.

The Hamas statement said it was willing to return all remaining hostages according to the plan’s “formula,” apparently referring to an exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. It also reiterated its longstanding openness to handing power over to a politically independent Palestinian body.

But Abu Marzouk said it might be difficult for Hamas to release all the hostages within 72 hours, because it could take days or weeks to locate the remains of some of the captives.

He said Hamas was willing to hand over its weapons to a future Palestinian body that runs Gaza, but there was no mention of that in the official statement.

Another Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Araby television that Hamas would refuse foreign administration of the Gaza Strip and that the entry of foreign forces would be “unacceptable.”

US and Israel seek to pressure Hamas

Israel has sought to ramp up pressure on Hamas since ending an earlier ceasefire in March. It sealed the territory off from food, medicine and other goods for 2 1/2 months and has seized, flattened and largely depopulated large areas.