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JERUSALEM: Hamas had yet to respond Tuesday to Donald Trump on his plan for Gaza, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli 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 gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
A senior Hamas official said Monday the group had not yet received the 20-point plan, but an official briefed on the matter later told AFP that Qatari and Egyptian mediators had met with Hamas to provide them with the document.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad “just met with Hamas negotiators and shared the 20-point plan. The Hamas negotiators said they would review it in good faith and provide a response,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In a video statement posted on his Telegram channel after his joint press 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 with Trump.
“We will recover all our hostages, alive and well, while the (Israeli military) will remain in most of the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Still, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Netanyahu’s coalition government, blasted 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,” he said.
In Washington on Monday, Trump insisted that peace in the Middle East was “beyond very close” and describing the announcement as a “beautiful day — potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilization.”
His plan includes deployment of a “temporary international stabilization force” — and the creation of a transitional authority headed by Trump himself and including former British premier Tony Blair.
Blair, still widely hated in the Middle East for his role in the 2003 Iraq war, hailed the “bold and intelligent” plan.
The deal would demand Hamas militants fully disarm and be excluded from future roles in the government, but those who agreed to “peaceful co-existence” would be given amnesty.
During the press conference, Netanyahu cast doubt on whether the Palestinian Authority, which nominally runs the occupied West Bank, would be allowed a role in Gaza’s governance.
Trump noted 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.
Reaction was global, and swift. Key Arab and Muslim nations, including mediators Egypt and Qatar, hailed the agreement’s “sincere efforts” in the wake of their own talks with Trump last week.
Washington’s European allies promptly voiced support, with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy sharing strong expressions of support for the plan.
And European Union chief Antonio Costa urged all parties to “seize this moment to give peace a genuine chance.”
But in Gaza, people expressed skepticism.
“It’s clear that this plan is unrealistic,” 39-year-old Ibrahim Joudeh told AFP from his shelter in the so-called humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi in south 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.
Israeli air strikes and shelling continued across Gaza on Tuesday, according to the territory’s civil defense agency and witnesses.
The Israeli military said its forces were carrying out operations across the territory, particularly in Gaza City, where they have mounted a major offensive in recent weeks.
“Over the past day, the IAF (air force) struck more than 160 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including terrorists, weapons storage facilities, observation posts, and terrorist infrastructure sites,” the military said in a statement.
The Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank but could be set for a role in a post-war Gaza government, welcomed Trump’s “sincere and determined efforts.”
Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, said the plan would fuel further aggression against Palestinians.
“Through this, Israel is attempting — via the United States — to impose what it could not achieve through war,” the group said in a statement.
Israel’s military offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.