Hamas leaning toward accepting Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan quickly, source tells CBS News

Hamas and other Palestinian factions are leaning toward accepting President Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, and they will present the group’s response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Wednesday, a source close to the process told CBS News on Tuesday.

The plan, which Mr. Trump presented alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, is a 20-point proposal which, if agreed to, would see a swift ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all the remaining hostages and a number of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, an increased flow of humanitarian aid and the eventual transfer of control over the territory to an interim administration of Palestinian technocrats overseen by an international “Board of Peace” chaired by Mr. Trump.

It says that “within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.” Netanyahu appeared to publicly accept the agreement alongside Mr. Trump on Monday.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would also be on the “Board of Peace,” and, according to the plan, Israel would maintain security control around the perimeter of Gaza. Speaking Monday after his appearance with Mr. Trump, Netanyahu indicated that Israeli forces would remain “in most parts of the Strip” at least until all of the hostages were returned.

A diplomatic source with knowledge of the talks told CBS News that an Egyptian official and the Qatari prime minister had provided Hamas representatives with a copy of the proposal.

The Palestinian Authority, which partially administers areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, issued a statement supporting the plan, which was published by the PA-linked WAFA news agency.

In its statement, the PA stressed “the importance of the partnership with the United States in achieving peace in the region,” and reaffirmed its commitments to certain reforms, including “holding Presidential and Parliamentary elections within one year after the end of the war.”

“We have affirmed that we desire a modern, democratic, non-militarized Palestinian state that is committed to pluralism and the peaceful transfer of power,” the statement said.

Mr. Trump’s proposal does not include any immediate role for the PA in administering post-war Gaza, but it says the organization could eventually “securely and effectively take back control of Gaza” once it has implemented a series of reforms.

The leaders of a number of Muslim majority nations, including key states in the Middle East, quickly signalled support for the plan. Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar issued a joint statement welcoming Mr. Trump’s “sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza” and asserting their “confidence in his ability to find a path to peace.”

“They emphasize the importance of the partnership with the United States in securing peace in the region. Along these lines, the ministers welcome the announcement by President Trump regarding his proposal to end the war,  rebuild Gaza, prevent the displacement of the Palestinian people and advance a comprehensive peace, as well as his announcement that he will not allow the annexation of the West Bank,” the joint statement said.

The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said he was “encouraged by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s positive response” to the U.S. proposal, and that “all parties must seize this moment to give peace a genuine chance,” CBS News partner network BBC News reported.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, told CBS News that “anything that brings us to a ceasefire, to the release of hostages, to an end to the carnage that we see, and an end to the incredible suffering, and a pathway for peace is welcome.”

“Anyone can govern Gaza, but we don’t want another war like the one from the 7th of October. And the second thing: We don’t want the Israeli army to enter our homes like what happened in 1948,” one man in the Gazan city of Deir al Balah said. He told CBS News he had been displaced 14 times during the war. “Trump’s proposal doesn’t matter. Trump is Israel. The U.S. is with Israel. Israel is America. The Arab states all conspired against us, and America is Israel.”

“Anything that ends the bloodshed and the fighting is good. Anything that will end the slaughter that we are going through,” another man in Deir al Balah told CBS News.

Asked whether he’d be satisfied if a peace deal came at the cost of postponing any plans for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, he said: “Everything, all of that will be solved afterwards, after our situation is stabilized, and that can all be solved later on. We are very optimistic in God.”

Camilla Schick

contributed to this report.

Haley Ott is the CBS News Digital international reporter, based in the CBS News London bureau.

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