Hamas on Saturday called on Washington to push Israel toward a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a move critics may view as a calculated negotiating play, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that Israel will not accept such terms unless Hamas first gives up its weapons.
The demand centers on the second phase of a deal negotiated by President Trump, under which armed Palestinian groups in Gaza would surrender their weapons while the Israel Defense Forces pull back from the territory and a technocratic administration assumes control.
Hamas now says it is prepared to move forward with that requirement, a development that, if carried out, could mark a major shift in the Middle East after years of conflict, devastation and political deadlock.
“Hamas and other factions have confirmed to mediators their readiness to begin implementing the agreement and move to the second phase, provided it receives Israeli approval and that Israel begins implementing the agreement,” a Hamas official told the Agence France-Presse.
“Hamas is urging the US administration to exert pressure on Israel to compel it to abide by the agreement and move to the second phase.”
Netanyahu, however, has already drawn a firm line. Facing a difficult re-election fight this fall and intense pressure from far-right opponents of the Gaza peace framework, the Israeli leader has said Israel never consented to withdrawing before Hamas is completely disarmed.
Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time Tuesday, Netanyahu said the IDF would remain in place until Hamas has fully laid down its arsenal.
“President Trump thinks — or his team thinks — that they can get Hamas to disarm and demilitarize Gaza,” he said in a video address.
“They sent us a draft. We did not agree to it. It was not our draft. We sent back our comments.”
The draft was the result of separate negotiations between the Trump-controlled Board of Peace and Hamas.
Trump last week hailed as a breakthrough that Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms, with the Board of Peace saying Israel would in tandem carry out a phased withdrawal from much of Gaza.
“This is a monumental step toward lasting peace and security,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
But Israeli officials have cast Hamas’s response in starkly different terms, warning it is using the diplomatic process to stall and ensure Israel doesn’t resume military action.
“Hamas hasn’t abandoned the vision of destroying Israel,” said Brig. Gen. Ofir Mizrahi-Rozen, head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Research Department, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper.
“It is apparent that there is a Hamas effort to put the ball in our court.”
“This is a strategic ambush by Hamas,” added Israel Security Agency chief David Zini.
Under the peace plan, the disarmament and troops withdrawal would be followed by the reconstruction of the enclave.
That has been estimated at $71.4 billion by the United Nations, European Union and the World Bank in a joint assessment released in April.
