Talks on Gaza plan to be held with Hamas, Turkey – Qatar

Qatar said it was set to hold talks with Hamas negotiators and Turkey today to discuss US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying Hamas would study it “responsibly”.

“The (Hamas) negotiating delegation promised to study it responsibly,” Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, told a press conference.

He added: “There will also be another meeting today, also attended by the Turkish side, with the negotiating delegation.”

It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he did not agree to a Palestinian state during his talks with Mr Trump at the White House yesterday.

“Not at all, and it is not written in the agreement. One thing was made clear: We will strongly oppose a Palestinian state,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video posted overnight on his Telegram channel.

He also said the Israeli military would stay in most of Gaza, after he gave his backing to the peace plan for the Palestinian territory unveiled by Mr Trump.

“We will recover all our hostages, alive and well, while the (Israeli military) will remain in most of the Gaza Strip,” he said.

It comes as the governments of Egypt and Qatar say they had briefed Hamas officials on the contents of Mr Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war in Gaza.

Speaking at a joint White House press conference yesterday following a meeting with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Trump said they were “beyond very close” to an elusive peace deal for the Palestinian territory.

But he warned Hamas that Israel would have full US support to take whatever action it deemed necessary if the militants reject what he has offered.

The White House released a 20-point document that called for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Hamas disarmament.

Standing next to Mr Trump, Mr Netanyahu said: “I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims.

“It will bring back to Israel all our hostages, dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities, end its political rule, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel,” he said.

It was clear, however, that Hamas remained the key to whether Mr Trump’s peace proposals get off the ground.

The group’s absence from negotiations and its previous repeated refusals to disarm raised doubts about the plan’s viability.

But an official briefed on the talks said Qatar and Egypt shared the document with Hamas, which told mediators they will review it “in good faith” and then respond.

Read more: Key points from US peace proposal for Gaza

Months in the making, Mr Trump’s plan also envisages a demilitarised Gaza, which Hamas would hand over to an international transitional authority, while security is provided initially by Israel, which would later hand over to an international peacekeeping force.

That is likely to be provided by countries in the region and large Muslim states like Indonesia and Turkey.

Gulf Arab states are believed to be willing to spend billions of dollars reconstructing Gaza for the people who live there now, and nobody will have to leave unless they want to.

Under the deal, Hamas is supposed to disarm and disband, its leaders will be guaranteed safe passage out of Gaza, and ordinary fighters will be offered amnesty if they renounce violence.

The UN would resume aid deliveries, and the agreement speaks of a path towards Palestinian statehood.

Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan issued a joint statement welcoming the plan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she welcomed the proposal to end the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza.

“Welcome President @realDonaldTrump’s commitment to end the war in Gaza. Encourage all parties to now seize this opportunity. The EU stands ready to contribute,” she wrote on X.

“Hostilities should end with provision of immediate humanitarian relief to the population in Gaza and with all hostages released immediately,” she added.

Taoiseach and Tánaiste welcome peace plan

The Taoiseach said he welcomes the proposed Gaza peace plan and called on Hamas to “lay down its arms”.

“We need a ceasefire. The suffering in Gaza is unconscionable. It needs to stop. Too many children [are] being slaughtered. Israel needs to stop. Hamas needs to stop,” he said.

Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, the Taoiseach also said that no peace deal resolves issues on day one.

“Our own peace process took many years. Didn’t get resolved on day one. So you have to be practical,” he said.

He said that the Israeli Prime Minister conceded “really key elements in the 21-point plan in respect to the future of Gaza and working towards Palestinian self-determination”.

Meanwhile, the Tánaiste Simon Harris said he also welcomes the Gaza peace plan, even though it’s not perfect.

“I very much welcome the efforts and developments … to try and bring an end to the genocide, the horrors and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” he said.

“No peace plan is ever perfect, but a peace plan is required – something that will stop the bombings, stop the killings, stop the starvation, release the hostages and provide a pathway for the Palestinian people to have their own state.”

When asked what he means by the deal not being perfect, Mr Harris said he would like to see stronger language around a two-state solution.

“You’d like to see a little bit more detail … a significant amount more detail about the governance structures. I think these are things, particularly around the governance structures, that can be teased out and discussed in the days ahead,” he said.

The Tánaiste added that he hopes Hamas will accept the proposal.

The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally from Israeli official figures.

Israel’s offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Additional reporting Sean Whelan, Jackie Fox