Hamas to skip signing of Trump peace deal

The banishing of militants from Gaza under the US president’s plan is “absurd,” a spokesman for the group has told reporters

Hamas representatives will not attend the signing ceremony for the US-mediated peace deal in Egypt on Monday, the group’s spokesman Husam Badran has told the press. He also voiced misgivings about certain points in the plan promoted by US President Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, both Israel and Hamas announced an end to the conflict that has dragged on since October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. The ensuing Israeli military campaign has claimed the lives of more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials. The enclave has been left in ruins and plunged into a deep humanitarian crisis, prompting the UN to accuse Israel of genocide.

On Sunday, Al-Arabiya quoted Badran as saying that “Hamas will not be involved in the signing process. Only mediators and American and Israeli officials will be present.” Meanwhile, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was quoted by AFP on Sunday as stating that “no Israeli official will attend” the summit either.

The French news agency also quoted Hamas’ Badran as stressing that “talk about expelling Palestinians, whether they are Hamas members or not, from their land is absurd and nonsense.” The Hamas representative described the implementation of the second phase of the peace plan as fraught “many complexities and difficulties.”

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The previous ceasefire was ended unilaterally by Israel in March, with Prime Minister Netanyahu recently suggesting that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) could resume its offensive in Gaza, should Hamas refuse to disarm.
Some members of the Israeli government coalition have already voiced opposition to any concessions to Hamas.

The deal unveiled by President Trump in late September envisages the recovery of all 48 Israeli hostages, both dead and alive, still held by Hamas in Gaza. Israel is in turn required to free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained since 2023.

Moreover, under the plan, the IDF is to pull its troops out of some parts of the enclave, followed later by a full withdrawal. On Friday, the Israeli military announced that its units had begun retreating from their positions.

The broader 20-point ceasefire framework calls for the establishment of a transitional international administration in Gaza. Hamas is expected to disarm and be excluded from governance in the territory, which is to become a “deradicalized, terror-free zone.”