Trump's Gaza Peace Plan Has Not Reached Hamas, Says Senior Official

Hamas officials have said they have yet to receive a formal copy of the Gaza plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

When the plan was announced on Monday, Netanyahu publicly backed the solution, even calling it a 'new beginning' for the region. However, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi has told Al Jazeera that they haven't yet received a copy of the report.

As per the official document, Trump's peace plans in Gaza would seek to disarm Hamas, make them withdraw from the region while handing over the governance of Gaza to a technocratic authority.

The authority will be overseen by an international "Board of Peace" led by Trump himself.

In return, however, Israel would have to cease all operations in Gaza, release all the detainees and withdraw their forces from the region. This will come with no annexation of Gaza either.

However, a major diplomatic hurdle in Trump's peace plans in Gaza would be the approval of Hamas.

Trump has warned Hamas that the United States would fully back Israel's ongoing efforts, if it doesn't accept the truce plans. Netanyahu, too, has hinted that Israel may have no option but to continue their operations if a peace agreement doesn't evolve.

However, the timing and the reach of the truce plans in Gaza have not been well received, with Mardawi claiming that the plans lean towards the side of Israel.

Guardian reports that Hamas was not consulted during the foundation of the plan, with Mardawi claiming that the group had not even received the plan at the time of the announcement. It wasn't until Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Hamas when the group received the full text of the plan.