Hamas Military Leader in Gaza Objects to Truce Plan, Sources State

Conflict in Gaza
Israeli forces has pressed on with its military campaign in Gaza City after the US ceasefire plan was presented.

Negotiators have reportedly made contact with the head of Hamas's military wing in Gaza, who indicated disagreement with the new US-backed ceasefire initiative.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad is thought to regard the framework as a tactic to eradicate the organization, whether or not the group agrees to it, and is therefore determined to continue fighting.

The 20-point framework proposed by US President Donald Trump to end the war—already accepted by Israel—requires that Hamas surrender weapons and have no future role in governing Gaza.

Some members of Hamas's political wing in Qatar are said to be open to accepting the plan with adjustments, but their authority is restricted as they lack control over the captives detained by the faction.

It is believed that forty-eight hostages remain, with only 20 believed to be surviving.

Another major stumbling block for some within the group is the demand to release all captives within the initial three days of the ceasefire, which would strip them of their main leverage.

Even with the US president's assurance that Israeli forces would comply with the terms, there is deep skepticism within Hamas that the Israeli military would not resume hostilities after the hostages are returned—especially after the previous attempted targeting of the group's commanders in Doha last month.

Several Hamas leaders also reportedly oppose the deployment of a interim multinational stabilization force to Gaza, which they view as a new form of control.

Furthermore, a map of the proposed phased Israel's troop withdrawals from Gaza features what is referred to as a "security buffer zone" along Gaza's frontiers with the Sinai and the Israeli border.

It is unclear how this zone would be managed, but if Israeli authorities are involved, it is expected to be a source of contention.

In addition, since endorsing the plan on Monday, the Israeli leader has seemed to push back on a number of terms.

In a video posted on online platforms, he insisted that the IDF would be able to remain in parts of the strip and that the government would "oppose" the establishment of a sovereign Palestine.

This directly contradicts the US framework, which specifies that Israeli forces would withdraw entirely "except for a security perimeter deployment that will stay until Gaza is fully safe from any resurgent terror threat."

The plan also states that after completed, there could be a "credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and independence."

The group has in the past declared that it would not surrender arms until a independent Palestinian state is formed.

The Israeli military initiated its operation in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about twelve hundred people were murdered and two hundred fifty-one others were taken hostage.

According to figures from the Hamas-run health authority, no fewer than sixty-six thousand two hundred twenty-five people have been killed in military strikes in Gaza since the conflict began.

Willie Williams
Willie Williams

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