Hamas warns tough talks ahead | The Express Tribune

GAZA CITY:

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to a devastated Gaza City on Saturday, as Hamas warned the next stage in US President Donald Trump’s peace plan would be more difficult than the first.

Trump’s Middle East envoy promised Israeli hostage families their loved ones would be returned to them by Monday, and the region’s top US general visited Gaza one day after the guns fell silent.

“Your courage has moved the world,” US peace envoy Witkoff told the families and huge crowd in Tel Aviv. “To the hostages themselves: you are coming home,” he declared, as Israelis chanted “Thank you Trump”.

Israel and Hamas are now expected to release hostages and prisoners, two years after the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack triggered a counteroffensive that killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.

But mediators still have to secure a longer-term political solution that will see Hamas hand in its weapons and step aside from governing Gaza.

In an interview with AFP in Qatar, Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, warned: “The second phase of the Trump plan, as it is clear from the points themselves, contains many complexities and difficulties.”

Hamas, he said, would not attend the formal signing of the Gaza peace deal in Egypt, where international leaders are due to gather Monday to discuss implementing the first phase of the ceasefire.

Hamas is resisting calls to disarm. An official from the group, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was “out of the question”.

Hamas ally Iran also warned it did not trust Israel to respect the ceasefire.

“There is absolutely no trust in the Zionist regime,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said, accusing Israel of violating previous ceasefires, such as in Lebanon.

Multinational force

Under the Trump plan, as Israel conducts a phased withdrawal from Gaza’a cities, it will be replaced by a multinational force from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel.

On Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-on-law Jared Kushner visited Gaza.

Witkoff, Kushner and Trump’s daughter Ivanka then went on to Tel Aviv to attend a gathering with the families of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is one of about 20 hostages believed to still be alive, said: “We will continue to shout and fight until everyone is home.”