Hamas to skip Gaza peace deal signing, calls Trump’s proposals absurd: Reports
Palestinian militant group Hamas will skip the official signing of the Gaza peace deal in Egypt, a senior leader told news agency AFP, citing disagreements with parts of Donald Trump’s plan, leaving the future of the long-awaited agreement in limbo.
Hamas leaders dismissed suggestions that its members leave the Gaza Strip under the plan as “absurd,” a Times of Israel report added.
The group’s political bureau member, Hossam Badran, told reporters that “Talk about expelling Palestinians, whether they’re Hamas members or not, from their land is absurd and nonsense.” He said he expects negotiations over the second phase of the plan to be difficult, because it “contains many complexities and difficulties.”
The remarks come ahead of Trump’s scheduled Middle East visit in the next two days, during which he is expected to celebrate the release of Israeli hostages, still held in Gaza two years after Hamas’s October 7 attack, and promote the next phase of his plan.
But a senior Hamas official indicated that significant political hurdles remain, saying that disarmament of the group, a key requirement of the plan, is “out of the question,” even if Hamas steps aside from Gaza’s government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended the previous ceasefire in March, has suggested Israel could resume its offensive if Hamas fails to disarm.
Part of Trump’s deal was implemented on Friday when Israel agreed to a ceasefire and withdrew forces from parts of Gaza, allowing displaced families to begin returning to homes devastated by Israeli bombardments. Thousands of Palestinians moved north along Gaza’s coast on Saturday, travelling by foot, car, and cart, as the ceasefire appeared to hold.
As part of the ceasefire, Hamas has until noon on Monday to release the 47 remaining Israeli hostages, both living and deceased, out of the 251 abducted during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The remains of one additional hostage, held since 2014, are also expected to be returned.
In exchange, Israel will release 250 prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly anti-Israeli attacks, along with 1,700 Gazans detained since the outbreak of the war.
Israeli troops pulled back after a conflict that killed tens of thousands and left much of the enclave in ruins. The US military will coordinate a multinational taskforce, likely including troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, but no American forces will enter Gaza.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,682 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
The latest round of war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
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