After Hamas said Friday that it has accepted some parts of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is preparing to implement the ‘first stage’ of Trump’s peace plan.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s office on Saturday said Israel would work in “full cooperation” with Trump to end the war in accordance with its principles.
Trump had ordered Israel on Friday to stop bombing the Gaza strip after Hamas agreed to accept some elements of his 20-point peace plan to end the nearly two-year war, including releasing all remaining hostages and giving up power to other Palestinians. Senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.
“Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, 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!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The US President’s statement came hours after threatening Hamas to agree to the deal by Sunday evening or face an even greater military onslaught. It was unclear how the US and Israel would respond to partial acceptance.
Also Read: Trump threatens Hamas with Sunday deadline
Meanwhile, Hamas said it was willing to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, according to the plan’s “formula”. It also reiterated its longstanding openness to handing power over to a politically independent Palestinian body of technocrats, while signaling its readiness to enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.
Senior Hamas official, Mousa Abu Marzouk told a leading international news portal on Friday that the group would not disarm before the Israeli occupation ends, adding issues about 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 official added that Hamas will enter negotiations on all issues related to the group and its arms.
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.
The peace plan has been accepted internationally, and while Palestinians long for an end to the war that began on October 7, 2023, many view this and previous US proposals as strongly favouring Israel.
Key mediators Egypt and Qatar welcomed the latest developments, with Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, saying they would “continue discussions on the plan.”
A spokesman for UN, Secretary-General, Antonio 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 organisation 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.”
Since the end of an earlier ceasefire in March, Israel sealed the Palestinian territory off from food, medicine and other goods for two-and-a-half months and has seized, flattened and largely depopulated large areas of the territory.
Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched a major offensive aimed at occupying it. An estimated 400,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, of which women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Trump's leadership amid 'decisive' progress in peace efforts in Gaza
India welcomes US President Donald Trump's leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. He said it marks a significant step forward in efforts to restore peace in the region.
He said on X, "India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace."
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