Hamas blasts Trump peace plan despite pledging review

While officially saying it will examine the proposal “in good faith,” the group is striking a different tone in Arab media.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Hamas’ official response to the Gaza peace plan unveiled Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was that the terror group “will examine it in good faith.”

In Arab-language media, however, its message was markedly different.

In an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi dismissed the proposal as being “close to the Israeli position.”

He rejected clauses requiring Hamas to “decommission” its weapons and dismantle “all military, terror and offensive infrastructure,” saying: “The weapons of resistance were not used to attack anyone but were intended for freedom and independence.”

“What happened is an attempt to stifle the international momentum and recognition of the Palestinian state,” he continued. “We will not accept any proposal that does not include determining the fate of the Palestinian people and protecting them from massacre.”

The plan envisions the Palestinian Authority “securely and effectively taking back control of Gaza” and talks of “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” but only if the Palestinian Authority first undergoes sweeping reforms.

Although Mardawi added that Hamas “will examine” the plan and “discuss it with Palestinian factions,” the group has projected a rejectionist stance through its tightly controlled media.

As translated by Abu Ali Express, Wesam Afifa, a Gaza-based analyst and self-described expert on strategic affairs, wrote Tuesday, “Trump’s plan forces Hamas, the resistance and the Palestinian people to prepay the bill while exempting the occupation from any payment.”

Afifa has consistently praised Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war, and has glorified what he calls the “steadfastness of the Palestinian people” in the face of “brutal oppression.”

Another analyst, Khalil abed a-Rahman, called the plan “full compliance with the demands of Netanyahu and his fascistic government.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a much smaller Gazan terror group that is fighting alongside Hamas and is directly controlled by Iran, did not try to finesse its response.

“What was announced at the press conference between Trump and Netanyahu is an American-Israeli agreement that reflects Israel’s full position, and constitutes a recipe for continuing the attack against the Palestinian people,” PIJ chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah said.

“Through the U.S., Israel is trying to impose what it failed to achieve on the battlefield, and therefore, in our view, this plan will lead to a regional explosion.”