Hamas responds to Gaza proposal after Trump ultimatum
(CNN) — Hamas has submitted its response to President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan to mediators, according to a senior Hamas official, after the president earlier Friday offered a firm ultimatum for the group to respond by Sunday evening.
Trump said if the terror group hasn’t agreed to the proposal by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out.”
CNN has reached out to the White House about Hamas’ response.
Trump has been waiting since Monday to hear a response to the 20-point plan he unveiled alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. He said a day after the announcement, he would give Hamas three or four days to respond.
Netanyahu said during their joint appearance that Israel agreed to the framework, which spells out an end to the war, the release of hostages and a redevelopment plan for the devastated enclave. Trump deemed the announcement “potentially one of the great days ever in civilization.”
Hamas has been in discussions with regional mediators from Qatar and Egypt to discuss the plan. Trump spoke midweek with Qatar’s emir for an update on the conversations.
Communication problems with Hamas’ military leaders in Gaza could have been delaying receiving an official response, according to US officials who were advised of the difficulties by regional partners earlier this week.
The sporadic contacts, paired with divisions among Hamas leadership over elements of the plan, may have prolonged the group’s official response, the officials said.
In previous attempts at securing a ceasefire, communications were halting between Hamas’ political wing, based in Qatar, and its military leaders in Gaza.
Trump, in his Friday social media post, appeared impatient to get a response.
“The details of the document are known to the WORLD, and it is a great one for ALL! We will have PEACE in the Middle East one way or the other,” he wrote. “The violence and bloodshed will stop. RELEASES THE HOSTAGES, ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE BODIES OF THOSE THAT ARE DEAD, NOW!”
“An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time,” he went on. “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”
Trump said he was asking “all innocent Palestinians” to leave areas of Gaza that are under siege by Israel “for safer parts of Gaza.”
“Everyone will be well cared for by those that are waiting to help,” he wrote. “Fortunately for Hamas, however, they will be given one last chance!”
Speaking later Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s message should be interpreted as a “red line” to Hamas.
“I think the entire world should hear the president of the United States loud and clear,” she said. “Hamas has an opportunity to accept this plan and to move forward in a peaceful and prosperous manner in the region, and if they don’t, the consequences, unfortunately, are going to be very tragic.”
Hamas had expressed misgivings about some aspects of the plan, many of which appeared to cross several of its previously declared red lines, according to US officials’ descriptions of their conversations with mediators.
Among the sticking points are the plan’s demand that the terror group disarm and destroy its weapons, and the formation of a peacekeeping force in Gaza, officials said. The group’s leaders appear divided over what aspects of the plan to accept and which to attempt to modify, the officials said.
Under the proposal, all of Hamas’ infrastructure above and below ground would be destroyed, with the supervision of independent monitors, “and not rebuilt.”
The plan Trump unveiled calls for Israel to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences, as well as 1,700 Palestinians detained since the start of the war, in exchange for Hamas freeing 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas members can be granted amnesty after that if they “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons.”
Israel would gradually withdraw from Gaza as a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF), led by Arab partners, takes over security in the battered territory, according to the plan. Meanwhile, a Palestinian committee, overseen by an international body dubbed the “Board of Peace,” would run Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is ready to take over. The proposal recognizes the aspiration for a Palestinian state and tries to present a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
Hamas would be unlikely to accept the proposal without changes, current and former diplomats told CNN earlier Friday.
Hamas will “try to whittle around the issues related to disarmament as well as the upfront obligation to turn over all hostages and the remains,” said Barbara Leaf, who served as the top State Department official for Middle East affairs during the Biden administration.
And Leaf, who also served as US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, pointed to a split in Hamas leadership.
“It has always been exceptionally difficult to put true pressure on Hamas as a whole, because of this bifurcation, those who are in Gaza underground … that they feel they have an advantage on versus those outside, who, perhaps, under these circumstances, could be pushed to the point of agreeing to these terms,” she explained.
“If they agree on the outside, but they can’t get the veto lifted from inside, it’s a dilemma for everyone.”
Still, Leaf believes that there is room for negotiations on the deal, which lacks a number of specifics, that could get Hamas to agree to it. Another diplomat said they anticipate Hamas will likely respond positively but will seek amendments to the proposal.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Abeer Salman, Jennifer Hansler, Oren Liebermann, Mostafa Salem and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.
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