United States President Donald Trump has given Hamas three to four days to accept a U.S.-backed peace plan for Gaza, warning of "a very sad end" if the Islamist group rejects the proposal, which he said was close to ending the two-year-old conflict.
The 20-point plan was delivered to Hamas late on Monday by mediators Qatar and Egypt, following a White House meeting where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the document, saying it met Israel’s war objectives.
Hamas was not involved in the negotiations. The plan calls for Hamas to disarm, a demand it has consistently opposed.
An official briefed on the talks told Reuters the group "would review it in good faith and provide a response".
Trump told reporters in Washington that Israeli and Arab leaders had already endorsed the plan, saying "we’re just waiting for Hamas" to respond.
He gave the group "three or four days" to make its decision.
"Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end," Trump said before leaving the White House.
The proposal outlines an immediate ceasefire, the exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament, and the installation of a transitional administration led by an international body.
But a source close to Hamas said the plan was "completely biased to Israel" and imposed "impossible conditions" designed to dismantle the group.
A Palestinian official told Reuters: "What Trump has proposed is the full adoption of all Israeli conditions, which do not grant the Palestinian people or the residents of the Gaza Strip any legitimate rights."
Meanwhile, Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City on Tuesday, reaching the centre of the enclave.
Netanyahu has described the area as Hamas’s final stronghold.
The conflict began after Hamas’s 7 October, 2023 assault on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages being taken to Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign since then has killed over 66,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
Some Palestinians cautiously welcomed Trump’s peace plan as a potential end to bombardments, though many doubted whether it would end Israel’s control of Gaza.
