GAZA STRIP, Palestine
Hamas officials want amendments to clauses on disarmament in US President Donald Trump's new Gaza peace plan, a Palestinian source close to the group's leadership told AFP on Wednesday.
Hamas negotiators held discussions on Tuesday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source said, requesting anonymity because they were discussing sensitive matters, and adding the group needed "two or three days at most" to respond.
Trump's plan, which has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of some 50 captives held by Hamas - only around 20 of whom are still alive - within 72 hours, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
It also requires Hamas to disarm and give up control of Gaza, while a controversial international authority will take control of the territory and Hamas leaders will go into exile.
But the Palestinian source said: "Hamas wants to amend some of the clauses such as the one on disarmament and the expulsion of Hamas and faction cadres."
Hamas leaders also want "international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip" and guarantees of no assassinations inside or outside the territory. The source said Hamas was also in touch with "other regional and Arab parties", without giving details.
Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the Palestinian group was split over Trump's plan.
"So far there are two views within Hamas: the first supports unconditional approval because the important thing is to have a ceasefire guaranteed by Trump, provided that the mediators guarantee Israel's implementation of the plan," the source said, also requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
But others withing the group have "great reservations on important clauses", the source said. "They reject disarmament and for any Palestinian citizen to be taken away from Gaza," the source said.
"They support a conditional agreement with clarifications that take into account demands by Hamas and the resistance factions so that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is not legitimised while the resistance is criminalised," they added.
"Some factions reject the plan, but discussions are ongoing and things will become clearer soon."
A senior Hamas figure had told the BBC separately that the group is likely to reject the plan as it serves Israeli interests and ignores the Palestinians.
The official, who was not named, said the group is unlikely to agree to surrendering its weapons, a key condition of the Trump plan which Israel and several Arab states have been calling on Hamas to do.
Hamas is also expected to oppose deploying international peacekeeping forces in Gaza, which the group views as a form of occupation, even if the Israeli military pulls out of the enclave.
Trump has given the Palestinian group only days to respond to the proposal, which he announced in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, from the White House on Monday.
The US president has warned of harsh repercussions in Gaza if Hamas rejects the deal, giving Israel full support to continue its war.
On 7 October, the war will reach its two year mark. More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, in what is now widely recognised as a genocide.
The true death toll is believed to be much higher, with the bodies of thousands of uncounted victims buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
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