Jerusalem/Gaza, October 2, 2025: Israel pressed ahead with its military offensive in Gaza City on Thursday, days after US President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point framework for ending the nearly two-year war.
The plan, already accepted by Israel, calls for Hamas to disarm and relinquish any future role in governing Gaza. However, mediators in contact with the group say its military commander in Gaza, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, has rejected the proposal, viewing it as a move designed to dismantle Hamas entirely.
Some of Hamas’s political leaders in Qatar are believed to be more open to negotiation, but their influence has waned as they lack control over the hostages. The group is still holding 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive, according to estimates.
A key stumbling block is the requirement that Hamas release all hostages within the first 72 hours of a ceasefire, effectively surrendering its primary bargaining chip. Distrust of Israeli intentions also runs deep, particularly after last month’s Israeli airstrike in Doha that targeted Hamas leaders despite US opposition.
The plan also calls for the deployment of a temporary international stabilisation force by the US and Arab states, something Hamas leaders have denounced as “a new form of occupation.” Furthermore, a US-proposed map envisions a “security buffer zone” along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt — a provision likely to spark further dispute if Israel plays a role in enforcing it.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly pushed back on parts of the framework, saying Israel’s military would remain in sections of Gaza and vowing to “forcibly resist” the creation of a Palestinian state. This stance contradicts Trump’s framework, which envisions a full Israeli withdrawal (apart from a limited security perimeter) and a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.
Hamas, for its part, has long maintained it would not disarm until a sovereign Palestinian state is established.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Since then, more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
