Hamas’s U-turn on peace deal, calls proposal to vacate Gaza ‘nonsense’; deal hanging in the balance

Efforts to establish lasting peace in Gaza have suffered a major setback. Despite a peace deal being agreed upon after months of negotiations and mediation by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has now refused to formally sign it. Hamas has rejected proposals for Gaza evacuation and disarmament under the deal as “nonsense” and impractical, dashing hopes of ending the two-year conflict.

Why did Hamas retreat?

According to the information, this peace agreement had several phases, which was to start with the release of prisoners and partial withdrawal of Israeli forces. However, the further stages of the agreement call for disarmament of Hamas and demilitarization of Gaza, which is not acceptable to Hamas. Hamas sources say they will not talk about laying down their arms as long as Israeli forces occupy Palestinian land.

Another big issue is the deadline for the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army. Hamas wants the agreement to set a clear and definite deadline for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but Israel is not ready to give any concrete assurance on this.

What was Trump’s 20-point peace plan?

US President Donald Trump and his team had prepared this peace plan, which included 20 points. Its main points were:

• Release of hostages by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners by Israel.
• Phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
• Complete demilitarization of Gaza and disarmament of Hamas.
• Formation of a technocrat government in Gaza under international monitoring.

Although Israel and Hamas had agreed on the first phase of this plan, the talks have been stuck on controversial issues like disarmament.

Israel’s tough stance

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has toughened his stance. He has clearly stated that if Hamas does not surrender its arms easily, it will be disarmed the “difficult way”. Netanyahu also indicated that war could resume if the agreement is not fully implemented.

This latest step by Hamas has once again put a question mark on the hopes of peace in the Middle East. Now it remains to be seen what new path the mediating countries, Qatar and Egypt, find to break this deadlock.