Arab states pressuring Hamas to show flexibility with Trump's Gaza plan

Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey are putting pressure on Hamas to limit its objections to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the war in Gaza, especially in regards to the disarmament clause, sources have said.

The Arab diplomats told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the three countries are trying to prevent the Palestinian group from completely rejecting the US president’s proposal.

Upon announcing his plan on Monday from the White House, alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump gave Hamas days to respond.

He warned this was the group’s final chance for ending the war on Gaza, otherwise a severe Israeli response could be expected.

Hamas has said it wanted to amend certain clauses in the deal related to its disarmament, one of the main conditions in Trump’s plan, and something Netanyahu and several Arab states are pushing for.

The group also wants to amend clauses that call for the expulsion of Hamas and faction cadres from Gaza.

But while pressuring Hamas to show flexibility, Arab states are also warning against Israeli amendments to the plan that could "empty it of content" and throw the entire proposal into jeopardy, the diplomats told Haaretz.

Arab and Muslim states involved in the negotiations are reportedly frustrated with Netanyahu’s changes to the deal, saying the new plan is not what was agreed on.

Diplomats told Haaretz that Trump’s deadline for Hamas by early next week is tied to his personal considerations, as he tries to make a breakthrough in the war ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize committee announcements on 10 October.

Trump has repeatedly said he thinks he deserves a peace prize, claiming to have ended several conflicts around the world.

Need more time

As well as disarming Hamas and ending its nearly two-decade rule in Gaza, the plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of Israeli captives within 72 hours, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself, which many Palestinians and other observers have blasted as a "colonial" plan for Gaza.

A Hamas official told AFP on Friday that the group still needed time to study the plan.

"Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump's plan... and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time," the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas's political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the "plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon".

"We are in contact with mediators and with Arab and Islamic parties, and we are serious about reaching understandings," he added.

Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that "two opinions exist within Hamas", the first supporting unconditional approval for the plan and the second having serious reservations.

No future for Hamas

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Thursday there could be no future role for Hamas in Gaza.

The group has governed the besieged coastal enclave since 2007.

"Hamas has no role in the day after," Abdelatty said at a conference in Paris. "This is a full agreement among us, as Arabs, as Muslims, and even among Hamas people themselves. They understand very well that they have no role for the day after, and this is a fact."

However, Abdelatty also said: "Let's not give any excuse for one party to use Hamas as a pretext for these mad daily killings of civilians."

"This is ethnic cleansing and genocide in motion. So enough is enough."

He said he was worried about the future of Israel.

"In Gaza, we have at least 130,000 kids, Palestinian kids. They are 10 years or under. They lost all of their direct and extended families," Abdelatty said.

"What do you expect from them five or 10 years from now? It's very dangerous," he added.

"For Israel, it's important to live in peace and to be fully integrated in the region. And we are more than ready."

Destruction continues

Israeli attacks continued to claim the lives of dozens more Palestinians since early Friday and continued demolishing residential buildings in Gaza City as part of its efforts to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Citing eyewitnesses, Anadolu Agency reported several Palestinian deaths and injuries - without specifying how many - when an Israeli strike targeted a vehicle in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Medical sources and eyewitnesses also reported that a Palestinian was injured in an Israeli strike targeting the rooftop of a family home in the Al-Husayna area, west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Areas east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza experienced heavy aerial bombardment, while central Khan Younis was subjected to explosions carried out using booby-trapped vehicles.

In Gaza City, the Israeli army carried out the demolition of residential buildings using booby-trapped vehicles in several neighbourhoods.

These included Al-Sabra in the southeast, Al-Nasr neighbourhood in the northwest, Al-Shati refugee camp, and Al-Mukhabarat and Al-Karama areas, as well as the eastern part of Al-Jalaa Street.

More than 66,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began two years ago, most of them civilians, in what is widely recognise as a genocide.

(Agencies contributed to this report)