UNITED States President Donald Trump says Hamas has “three or four days” to respond to his Gaza ceasefire proposal, telling reporters that Israeli and Arab leaders had already accepted the plan.
“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 at the White House on Tuesday.
Asked if there was room for negotiations on the proposal, he replied: “Not much.”
The US president also thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Trump on Monday in Washington, DC, “for agreeing to the plan”.
Trump’s comments come a day after the White House released a 20-point document that calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the exchange of Israeli captives held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli prisons and a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Under the proposal, Hamas would be required to disarm and the US would work with Arab and international partners to install a “temporary international stabilization force”.
The plan also states that Hamas would play no role in governing Gaza. Its members would be offered amnesty if they commit to “peaceful coexistence” while those wishing to leave the enclave would be granted safe passage abroad.
Trump said the plan also envisions a transitional government of Palestinian technocrats to provide daily services in Gaza, self-governance, the return of displaced residents and assurances that “the people of Gaza will not be removed”.
The renewed push to end Israel’s two-year war on Gaza comes as the Palestinian death toll has risen above 66,000 and the coastal enclave endures a humanitarian crisis.
Israeli attacks on Gaza intensified on Tuesday, killing dozens of Palestinians, including 20 people who were seeking desperately needed aid in southern and central parts of the Strip.
“Every minute, there is an explosion in Gaza City as Israel’s ground activities are still expanding,” Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Nuseirat in central Gaza.
Sources told Al Jazeera that at least six people were killed in an Israeli drone attack in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reporting that a child and a journalist were among the victims.
An Israeli air attack around the Nuseirat refugee camp also killed at least four people and wounded others.
As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, Hamas’s negotiating team has been studying Trump’s plan, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told Al Jazeera that several points in the proposal require clarification and negotiation.
But he said he hoped that all parties would “view the plan constructively and seize the opportunity to end the war”.
“We explained to Hamas during our meeting yesterday that our primary goal is stopping the war,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Tuesday. “Hamas acted responsibly and promised to study the plan.”