Hamas says it agrees to release Israeli hostages but seeks changes to US Gaza peace plan

Hamas has agreed to release all the remaining Israeli hostages but says it wants further negotiations on a number of key points outlined in the US peace plan.

In a statement, the group said it agreed “to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal” – if the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.

But it appears to suggest it is seeking further negotiation on other issues regarding the future of Gaza and the rights of Palestinians, saying they are still being discussed.

The announcement came hours after US President Donald Trump gave Hamas a Sunday deadline to accept the peace plan or face “all hell”.

After Hamas submitted its response, Trump posted on Truth Social “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE”.

He called on Israel to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” adding that “we are already in discussions on details to be worked out”.

Tahir al-Nounou, media adviser to the head of Hamas’s political bureau, told the BBC: “President Trump’s statements are encouraging, and the movement is ready to begin negotiations immediately to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war, and secure the withdrawal of the occupation.”

The Hamas statement did not specifically mention or accept Trump’s 20-point plan but says it “renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.”

However the statement makes no mention of one of the key demands of the plan – that Hamas agree to its disarmament and to playing no further role in the governance of Gaza.

The peace plan proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release within 72 hours of 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas – as well as the remains of hostages thought to be dead – in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans.

There are believed to be 48 hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory by the armed group, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

The plan stipulates that once both sides agree to the proposal “full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip”.

Under the US plan, Hamas would have no role in governing Gaza, and it leaves the door open for an eventual Palestinian state.

However, after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the plan together on Monday, Netanyahu reinstated his longstanding opposition to a Palestinian state, saying in a video statement shortly after the announcement: “It’s not written in the agreement. We said we would strongly oppose a Palestinian state.”

Hamas’s statement on Friday said that the part of the proposals dealing with the future of Gaza and the rights of Palestinian people was still being discussed “within a national framework”, of which it said Hamas will be a part.

Earlier on Friday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post.

On Tuesday Trump had said that he was giving Hamas “three to four days” to respond to the peace plan.

In a briefing at the White House on Friday afternoon, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the consequences of turning down the deal would be “very grave” for Hamas.

“I think that the entire world should hear the president of the United States loud and clear,” Leavitt added. “Hamas has an opportunity to accept this plan and move forward in a peaceful and prosperous manner in the region. If they don’t, the consequences, unfortunately, are going to be very tragic.”

European and Middle Eastern leaders have welcomed the proposal. The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has called the US president’s efforts “sincere and determined”.

Trump has said that if Hamas does not agree to the plan, Israel would have US backing to “finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas”.

Netanyahu has also said Israel “will finish the job” if Hamas rejected the plan or did not follow through.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 66,288 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

In the 24 hours before midday on Friday, 63 people were killed by Israeli military operations, the health ministry said.

Israel is carrying out an offensive in Gaza City, with Israel’s defence minister saying earlier this week that Israeli forces were “tightening the siege” around the city.

Hundreds of thousands of Gaza City residents have been forced to flee after the Israeli military ordered evacuations to a designated “humanitarian area” in the south, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have remained.

Israel’s defence minister has warned that those who stay during the offensive would be “terrorists and supporters of terror”.

Israel has said the offensive aims to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency, Unicef, said on Friday that the idea of a safe zone in southern Gaza was “farcical”.

“Bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability. Schools, which have been designated as temporary shelters, are regularly reduced to rubble,” he said.

Additional reporting from Bernd Debusmann Jr at the White House

Hamas says it agrees to release Israeli hostages but seeks changes to US Gaza peace plan

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