Hamas Looks to Avoid ‘Take It or Leave It’ on Trump Proposal

Hamas was still studying President Trump’s proposal to end the war in Gaza but would not accept being told to “take it or leave it,” a senior political member of the group said.

“Hamas is discussing this plan with seriousness,” Mohammad Nazzal, the Hamas official, told Al Jazeera in an interview on Thursday, saying that the group was conferring with other Palestinian factions and would announce its position soon.

The group came under added pressure on Friday after Mr. Trump, in a post on social media, said that an agreement must be reached by Sunday, at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, or “all HELL” would “break out against Hamas.”

Mr. Nazzal said on Thursday that Hamas had “comments” on the plan and was looking for “gray areas" in it that it could work with. The 20-point proposal calls for Hamas to release all Israeli hostages and for the group to disarm. The plan also stipulated a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey met with Hamas negotiators this week to discuss Mr. Trump’s plan, according to two officials briefed on the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The group’s decision on the proposal will have profound implications for both Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the Israeli hostages still held there, who have suffered immensely during nearly two years of war.

Accepting the deal could bring an immediate end to the fighting. Any other response could prolong the conflict.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has declared his support for the plan, telling reporters on Monday that if Hamas did not accept it, then Israel would continue with its campaign in Gaza and “finish the job by itself.”

Hamas has found itself in a difficult position, compelled to respond to a plan that has divided its supporters, according to Palestinian analysts.

“Rejecting the plan will make it look like it is justifying the continuation of the war,” said Esmat Mansour, a Palestinian analyst who spent years in Israeli prison with Hamas leaders. “Accepting it will be tantamount to signing on to its demise.” Yet demanding major changes to the proposal, he added, might not be an option that Mr. Trump was willing to consider.

Some Hamas officials have made comments suggesting that they were opposed to Mr. Trump’s plan.

“Despite the criminal extermination being carried out by this criminal enemy, this resistance will continue to exist until our people achieve their goals and desires,” Abdel Jabbar Saeed, a Hamas official based in Qatar, said in a post on social media on Thursday.

There are differing perspectives within Hamas and some are more hard-line than others.

“Accepting the ‘Trump’ plan means political suicide that will destroy the Palestinian cause,” Belal Rayan, the son of a hard-line Hamas leader whom Israel killed in 2009, wrote on X this week.

Still, some analysts, including Mr. Mansour, said it was possible that Hamas’s leadership could accept the fundamental terms of the plan, even if that means effectively conceding defeat. If that were the case, Mr. Mansour said, Hamas would demand a clear timetable for Israel to pull back its forces and end the war.

“They don’t have much to rely on anymore,” he said. “They might be looking to climb down the tree.”

Liam Stack contributed reporting.