DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered Israel to cease bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas mentioned it had accepted some parts of his plan to finish the almost two-year battle and return all of the remaining hostages taken within the Oct. 7, 2023, assault.
Hamas mentioned it was keen to launch the hostages and hand over energy to different Palestinians, however that different elements of the plan require additional consultations amongst Palestinians. Senior Hamas officers recommended there have been nonetheless main disagreements that required additional negotiations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Israel was ready for the implementation of the “first stage” of Trump’s plan, apparently referring to the discharge of hostages. However his workplace mentioned in a press release that Israel was dedicated to ending the battle based mostly on rules it has set out earlier than, with out addressing potential gaps with Hamas.
Trump welcomed the Hamas assertion, 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 mentioned elements of the proposal pertaining to the way forward for the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights needs to be selected the premise of a “unanimous Palestinian stance” reached with different factions and based mostly on worldwide legislation.
The assertion additionally made no point out of Hamas disarming, a key Israeli demand included in Trump’s proposal.
Newest ceasefire effort is broadly welcomed
Trump seems eager to ship on pledges to finish the battle and return dozens of hostages forward of the second anniversary of the assault on Tuesday.
Key mediators Egypt and Qatar welcomed the newest developments, and Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s International Ministry, mentioned they might “continue discussions on the plan.”
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-Basic António Guterres mentioned 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 principle group representing the households of Israeli hostages mentioned Trump’s demand to halt the combating “is essential to prevent serious and irreversible harm to the hostages.” It known as on Netanyahu “to immediately begin efficient and swift negotiations to bring all our hostages home.”
Trump’s plan would finish the combating and return hostages
Earlier, Trump had warned that Hamas should conform to the deal by Sunday night, threatening an excellent higher army 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.”
Beneath the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Netanyahu, Hamas would launch the remaining 48 hostages — round 20 of them believed to be alive, inside three days. It might additionally quit energy and disarm.
In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from a lot of the territory, launch lots of of Palestinian prisoners and permit an inflow of humanitarian support and eventual reconstruction. Plans to relocate a lot of Gaza’s inhabitants to different international locations can be shelved.
The territory of some 2 million Palestinians can be positioned beneath worldwide governance, with Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. The plan supplies no path for eventual reunification with the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution in a future Palestinian state.
Palestinians lengthy for an finish to the battle, however many view this and former U.S. proposals as strongly favoring Israel.
Hamas officers air objections in TV interviews
Trump’s proposal “cannot be implemented without negotiations,” Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official based mostly outdoors of Gaza, advised the Al Jazeera community on Friday.
The Hamas assertion mentioned it was keen to return all remaining hostages in keeping with the plan’s “formula,” apparently referring to an trade for lots of of Palestinian prisoners. It additionally reiterated its longstanding openness to handing energy over to a politically unbiased Palestinian physique.
However Abu Marzouk mentioned it could be troublesome for Hamas to launch all of the hostages inside 72 hours, as a result of it might take days or even weeks to find the stays of a number of the captives.
He mentioned Hamas was keen handy over its weapons to a future Palestinian physique that runs Gaza, however there was no point out of that within the official assertion.
One other Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, advised Al Araby tv that Hamas would refuse overseas administration of the Gaza Strip and that the entry of overseas forces can be “unacceptable.”
U.S. and Israel search to strain Hamas
Israel has sought to ramp up strain on Hamas since ending an earlier ceasefire in March. It sealed the territory off from meals, medication and different items for two 1/2 months and has seized, flattened and largely depopulated massive areas.
Consultants decided that Gaza Metropolis had slid into famine shortly earlier than Israel launched a significant offensive aimed toward occupying it. An estimated 400,000 folks have fled the town in latest weeks, however lots of of hundreds extra have stayed behind.
Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian workplace, mentioned she noticed a number of displaced households staying within the car parking zone of Shifa Hospital throughout a go to on Thursday.
“They are not able to move south because they just cannot afford it,” Cherevko advised The Related Press. “One of the families had three children and the woman was pregnant with her fourth. And there were many other vulnerable cases there, including elderly people and people with disabilities.”
Most of Hamas’ prime leaders in Gaza and hundreds of its fighters have already been killed, however it nonetheless has affect in areas not managed by the Israeli army and launches sporadic assaults.
Hamas has lengthy insisted it’ll solely launch the remaining hostages — its sole bargaining chip and potential human shields — in trade for a long-lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu has rejected these phrases, saying Hamas should give up and disarm.
Second anniversary approaches
1000’s of Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, attacking military bases, farming communities and an outside music pageant, killing some 1,200 folks, largely civilians. They kidnapped 251 others, most of them since launched in ceasefires or different offers.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed greater than 66,000 Palestinians, in keeping with Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say what number of have been civilians or combatants. It says ladies and kids make up round half the useless.
The ministry is a part of the Hamas-run authorities, and the U.N. and lots of unbiased specialists contemplate its figures to be probably the most dependable estimate of wartime casualties.
The offensive has displaced round 90% of Gaza’s inhabitants, usually a number of instances, and left a lot of the territory uninhabitable.
Each the Biden and Trump administrations have tried to finish the combating and convey again the hostages whereas offering intensive army and diplomatic help to Israel.
Mroue reported from Beirut and Krauss from Ottawa, Ontario. Related Press writers Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed.
