‘Ready to release all hostages’: Hamas submits response to Trump’s Gaza plan, seeks negotiation on terms
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Ready to release all hostages’: Hamas submits response to Trump’s Gaza plan, seeks negotiation on terms")
US President Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu address a press conference in the White House in Washington, DC Photograph: (AFP)
The Palestinian group also said in a statement shared on Telegram that it agrees to hand over the administration of Gaza to an independent body of Palestinian technocrats, “based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support”.
The Palestinian terror group Hamas submitted its response to Trump’s Gaza plan on Friday, hours after the US president announced the Sunday deadline, and said that it is ready to release all hostages—both living and dead—as per the exchange plan outlined in the proposal. Hamas said that it will release all captives in order to end Israel’s war on Gaza and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave, reported Al Jazeera. “In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement shared on Telegram. The group also said that it agrees to hand over the administration of Gaza to an independent body of Palestinian technocrats, “based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support”.
Hamas issued its response to Trump’s 20-point plan after the US president, on Friday, gave the group time until Sunday to accept or reject the proposal. The group said that it accepts the peace plan but would seek further negotiations over many of its other terms.
Trump did not mention whether the terms of the proposal would be subject to negotiation, as Hamas is seeking.
However, Hamas did not mention in its statement whether it would agree to disarm, a demand by Israel and the US that it has previously rejected.
It said, “Hamas appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, the immediate entry of aid, the rejection of the occupation of the Strip, and the rejection of the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.”
The group also announced that after holding in-depth consultations within its “leadership institutions” and broad consultations with Palestinian forces and factions, it has approved releasing all occupation prisoners—both living and remains—according to the exchange formula contained in “President Trump’s proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange”.
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But then it added, “In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details.”
Hamas also said that it broadly agreed to the plan out of its keenness to end “the aggression and genocide being carried out against our steadfast people” in the Gaza Strip, and stemming from national responsibility, and in defence of the constants, rights, and higher interests of our people.
“Other issues mentioned in President Trump’s proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are connected to a unified national position and relevant international laws and resolutions,” the Hamas statement said.
“They will be addressed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework, in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly,” it added.
The White House did not immediately comment on Hamas’ response to the peace proposal backed by Israel as well as Arab and European powers.
