Hezbollah leader: Trump’s Gaza peace plan seeks to exonerate Israel
Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Saturday that the US president’s Gaza peace plan is an effort to exonerate Israel in the face of widespread global condemnations.
He said the peace plan submitted by US President Donald Trump for Gaza is “fraught with dangers.”
Trump on Friday set a Sunday deadline for the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, to respond to his 20-point peace proposal, threatening that they would face “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before” if they rejected the offer.
On the same day, Hamas submitted its response to the proposal, saying that it agrees to “release all Israeli captives, living and deceased,” and that it approves of “handing over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and based on Arab and Islamic support.”
Hamas noted that it had come up with the response “based on national responsibility and out of concern for the constants, rights, and supreme interests of our people.” Naim Qassem said that the original plan, which was presented in a draft form to some Arab states, was subsequently modified after meetings with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resulting in amendments that serve the Israeli entity entirely and align with the so-called "Greater Israel" project. He said that after failing to achieve its objectives through aggression and massacres, the Israeli regime now seeks to realize this project through political means.
"We are facing a plan full of question marks, which is what some officials in the Arab countries have themselves stated, expressing their surprise and demanding clarifications." However, many world leaders positively reacted to Hamas’s partial acceptance of the US plan to end Israel’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Trump said Hamas’s response showed the resistance group was “ready for lasting peace,” and demanded that “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza.” The US president later pledged in a brief video that all sides would be treated fairly in Gaza talks, hailing the movement’s agreement to free captives as a “special day.” "In light of Hamas's response, Israel is preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
"We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump's vision," the statement added.
Israel continues attacks
Despite ongoing efforts to end the conflict in Gaza, Israel continued its deadly bombardment on Saturday, killing at least 20 Palestinians.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed Hamas’s statement, with spokesperson Stephane Dujarric saying the UN chief “urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Hamas’s “acceptance of the US peace plan is a significant step forward.”
He said the UK, alongside its partners, “stands ready to support further negotiations and to work towards sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
President Emmanuel Macron said France “will play its full part in line with its efforts at the United Nations, alongside the United States, Israelis and Palestinians, and all of its international partners.” He underlined the need for an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian access, adding that Paris was closely monitoring developments.
Peace ‘within reach’
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said peace in Gaza was “within reach”. Merz claimed that the plan represented “the best chance for peace” in the longtime war and Germany “fully supports” Trump’s “call upon both sides.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed her “full support” for a proposed cease-fire plan in Gaza.
Meloni said the priority should be securing a cease-fire in Gaza, adding, “Italy remains ready to do its part.”
Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that Hamas’s response to the Gaza peace plan could lead to lasting peace.
“There is an opportunity now to create the circumstances for a lasting peace, and I urge all parties to take it,” Martin said in a statement on X.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al Ansari, whose country has mediated between the warring sides over the past two years, said Doha “welcomes Hamas’s announcement of its approval in principle of President Trump’s proposal” and confirmed coordination with Egypt and Washington to continue mediation.
‘Positive development’
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry called Hamas’s response a “positive development” that reflected “the keenness of all Palestinian factions to spare the blood of the Palestinian people.”
The ministry said Cairo would work with Arab states, the US and European countries to achieve a permanent cease-fire.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Hamas’s response to the US president’s plan as “constructive and a significant step toward achieving lasting peace,” pressing Israel to end the genocide in Gaza.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Canberra “welcomes progress on President Trump’s plan to bring peace to Gaza,” urging Hamas to agree to the plan and release remaining captives “without delay.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he agrees with Trump “this time,” as he demanded the “cessation of the genocide.” Petro added that if Trump “moves his army to stop the oppression over Palestine, that army will be accompanied by the army of Colombia.”
UN rights chief Volker Turk said Trump's peace plan was a "vital opportunity" to stop bloodshed in the Palestinian territory "once and for all".
Trump’s plan comes amid Washington’s unbridled military, intelligence, and political support for the Israeli genocide that has so far claimed the lives of more than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the Gaza Strip.
The United States has also vetoed several United Nations resolutions aimed at bringing an end to the brutal military onslaught in Gaza.