Hamas reviews Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan as PIJ rejects
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Hamas is reviewing Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan after being briefed by Qatar and Egypt, while Islamic Jihad rejected it as “nothing but a full American-Israeli agreement.”
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Palestinian Resistance fighters stand in formation ahead of a ceremony to hand over Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Palestine, on February 22, 2025. (AP)
Hamas negotiators told mediators they would study the plan “in good faith” and provide a formal response, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Reuters reported that Egypt and Qatar briefed Hamas on United States President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war. Earlier, the White House confirmed that Trump had discussed the ceasefire proposal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing it as a framework supported by “Arab and Islamic leaders.”
At a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said he believed Hamas would eventually approve the proposal, adding that “Doha has taken it upon itself to convince the movement.”
PIJ rejects plan as 'US-Israeli agreement'
The announcement drew sharp criticism from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, dismissed the initiative outright, calling it “nothing but a full American-Israeli agreement.”
Al-Nakhalah stressed that the announcement reflected “the Israeli position in its most precise details” and constituted “a recipe for the continuation of aggression against the Palestinian people.”
He warned that the proposal amounted to “an attempt to impose new realities through the US after the occupation failed to achieve them through successive wars.”
The Islamic Jihad leader further cautioned that the so-called agreement was “a ready-made recipe to ignite the entire region and fuel further conflicts.”
Read more: Postwar Gaza plan led by Blair would sideline key Palestinian figures
Regional mediation continues
The White House had presented the proposal on Monday evening, saying that if both parties agree to this proposal, the war will end immediately.
Mediation efforts led by Qatar and Egypt remain ongoing, with Hamas yet to issue a formal stance, while the resistance maintains that any deal must address the root causes of the war, including the siege and occupation.
Read more: Half a million Palestinians trapped in just 8 km2 in Gaza City: UNRWA
