Gaza City [Gaza], October 1: 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.
Advertisement Hamas's negotiating team is studying Trump's plan, Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.
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Meanwhile, Fatah, the Palestinian political faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank, said publicly that it welcomed US efforts to end the war and protect civilians.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Fatah said it was ready to cooperate with all parties to secure a ceasefire, allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, ensure the release of captives and Palestinian prisoners, and establish international mechanisms to safeguard Palestinians.
The group also reiterated PA President Mahmoud Abbas's pledge to hold elections within a year of the war's end.
But senior Fatah official Abbas Zaki condemned the US proposal as a "document of surrender" imposed without Palestinian consent.
He warned that accepting it would "entrench humiliation, legitimise occupation and fragment Palestinian unity" and accused Washington and Israel of seeking to "liquidate the Palestinian cause".
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN chief welcomed the US efforts and urged "all parties [to] commit to an agreement and its implementation".
"The Secretary-General reiterates that our priority must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict," Farhan Haq said in a
statement.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna said Trump's comments on Tuesday demonstrate that his Gaza plan "is not an offer" but rather "an ultimatum" to Hamas.
"We've heard an inkling of what could happen should Hamas not comply," Hanna noted.
"Trump has specifically told Netanyahu that if Hamas doesn't accept, he has got to do what he's got to do, which is effectively a green light for intensified Israeli action in Gaza."
Source: Qatar Tribune
