Hours after Hamas announced it had accepted a ceasefire plan, drafted by negotiation mediators from Egypt and Qatar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out his plans on Sunday for what he called the “final stage” of his genocidal campaign in Gaza. “Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration,” Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday, referring to President Donald Trump’s threat to seize Gaza and remove Palestinians from their land. “This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time.” Netanyahu also boasted, “We have an alliance with the greatest superpower in the world.” He later said the Israeli cabinet had voted in favor of intensifying the military assault on Gaza.
Hamas’s chief negotiator, Dr. Khalil al-Hayya, announced that Hamas had accepted a deal on Saturday put forward by Qatar and Egypt, the two main regional mediators. “We do not want anything new. We want to respect what was signed, what the guarantors guaranteed, and what the international community approved,” al-Hayya said. “Out of our concern for our people and our families, we dealt with all offers responsibly and positively, with the aim of achieving our goals of stopping the war.” The Qatari-Egyptian plan to which Hamas agreed is largely based on a proposal put forward by Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, three weeks ago. The plan calls for the release of five living Israeli captives, including U.S. dual citizen and IDF soldier Edan Alexander, in return for a temporary 50-day truce and a resumption of negotiations on implementing the second phase of the January ceasefire deal. …..more
