Hamas is considering a peace proposal for Gaza, put forward by Donald Trump, that would see the terror group hand over their weapons.
The US president, alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, announced last night that he would temporarily rule Gaza as part of his plan for ‘eternal peace in the Middle East’.
European and Middle Eastern leaders have welcomed the deal. The foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan wrote in a joint statement that they appreciated Trump’s ‘leadership and his sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza’.
They added that they were ready to work with the US to get the deal over the line, which they said should result in a ‘two state solution, under which Gaza is fully integrated with the West Bank in a Palestinian state’.
But top Israeli ministers were up in arms over the proposal, with finance minister Bezalel Smotrich describing it as a ‘historic missed opportunity’ that will ‘end in tears’.
Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, said he was ‘encouraged by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s positive response’, adding: ‘All parties must seize this moment to give peace a genuine chance’.
Sir Keir Starmer also welcomed the plan, saying: ‘We call on all sides to come together and to work with the US Administration to finalise this agreement and bring it into reality.
‘Hamas should now agree to the plan and end the misery, by laying down their arms and releasing all remaining hostages,’ Sir Keir added.
French President Emmanuel Macron said: ‘France stands ready to contribute’ to the efforts to end the war and release hostages.
US President Donald Trump (pictured, right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured, left) shake hands at the conclusion of a joint press conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 29, 2025
‘These elements must pave the way for in-depth discussions with all relevant partners to build a lasting peace in the region, based on the two-state solution.’
And Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, said in a statement that the proposal ‘could represent a turning point in this process’.
She added that Hamas must have no role in governance, ‘directly, indirectly, or in any form’.
Trump pledged not only an ‘immediate end to the war’ in the Strip but ‘the whole deal’ to stop conflict that has ravaged the entire region for ‘thousands of years’.
And he said Sir Tony Blair would work alongside him on a transitional board to oversee the process if Hamas accept his 20-point peace plan.
This 20-point plan, which Hamas said it was reviewing ‘in good faith’, would see the terror group get disarmed. The plan states that Hamas members who ‘commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty’.
Trump’s plan would also see the Gaza Strip be run by Trump under a post-war authority.
Despite the positive reaction to the deal, Netanyahu starkly warned Hamas that Israel would ‘finish the job by itself’ if the terror group rejected the proposal.
Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on September 29, 2025
Trump said the Israeli leader would have his ‘full backing’ to do so if Hamas did not agree.
The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians.
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.
