On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that the terrorist-stamped Hamas has "three or four days" to respond to the agreement he has presented.
On Friday morning, a Hamas representative tells AFP that negotiations are ongoing and that they have informed the mediating parties that a little more time for consideration will be needed.
A member of the Islamist movement's governing politburo, Mohammad Nazzal, says that the proposal has several details that need to be discussed, but emphasizes that they are sincerely trying to reach an understanding.
New formulations
The proposal for a peace solution was presented on Monday, after Donald Trump received Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington DC.
The plan's 20 points were said to have been designed in consultation with several influential states from the Arab and Muslim world. But in the proposal that was then presented after Trump and Netanyahu's meeting, several formulations had been adjusted, according to information to Axios, Times of Israel and others.
It is mainly about the conditions and timetable for Israel's military withdrawal – where Israel is given greater right to make objections and where its soldiers are allowed to stay in a buffer zone along the entire border within Gaza. They will be allowed to do so until it is no longer considered that there is any risk of new terrorist threats, but in practice there is no deadline.
Caused irritation
During all peace negotiations that have been held during the war, Hamas has demanded clear guarantees that they, on their part, will release all hostages; guarantees that Israel will leave the Gaza Strip completely and not return in new attacks.
The mediating countries were said to have urged Hamas to accept the proposal early on, but several of them are also said to have become very annoyed that Israel was allowed to make changes to it. Officially, the mediators have welcomed the plan, but with reservations that some details need to be discussed.
Information from Hamas claims that its top leadership wants to discuss how a disarmament of the movement would be carried out and the forms of an amnesty for its members. The importance of "international guarantees for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip" is also emphasized.
The proposal that US President Donald Trump has presented for peace in Gaza consists of 20 points.
They were worked out in consultation with several influential countries from the Arab and Muslim world. Trump then met Israel's Prime Minister, who accepted the proposal, with some detailed changes.
The proposal stipulates, above all, an immediate end to the war, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, independent distribution of emergency aid to Gaza's population, a step-by-step withdrawal of Israel's military and disarmament of Hamas.
After that, a technocratic transitional government will take over, with international forces on site and a governing council where Donald Trump is chairman. Gaza "will be a deradicalized terrorist-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors" and will be rebuilt "for the benefit of Gaza's population".
