The Gaza peace deal presented to Hamas is significantly different from the one on which the US and Muslim countries agreed on earlier. Israeli President Netanyahu managed to secure “significant 11th-hour changes”. Hamas is seeking changes in clauses, while Qatar wants discussions on the details of the deal amid outrage across the Ummah.
The world was enthused by US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and that Israel agreed to it. A group of eight Muslim and Arab countries, including Pakistan and Qatar, endorsed it. However, it now seems that an entirely different peace deal has been presented to Palestinian terrorist group Hamas than what was agreed upon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently got the White House to make “11th hour changes” to the agreed-upon deal, and Qatar, which is the key negotiator with Hamas, is demanding discussions on the details of the agreement.
“The deal now before Hamas is significantly different than the one the US and a group of Arab and Muslim countries had previously agreed on, due to Netanyahu’s intervention,” reported the US-based media outlet Axios. The Associated Press too reported that changes had been made in the original proposal that Arab and Muslim countries had worked out with Trump. The text was altered to favour Israel, it said.
The allegations of a change in the text of the Gaza peace plan amid a looming deadline for Hamas with Trump giving the Palestinian outfit “three to four days to respond” to the deal or risk destruction.
Eight Muslim and Arab countries—Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan—on September 30 issued a joint statement, endorsing Trump’s Gaza peace plan. However, it came to light a day later that the fine print of the plan that was presented to Hamas had been changed in the meantime.
Hamas now wants changes in clauses in the peace plan, including on disarmament, the AFP reported, quoting a Palestinian source close to the terrorist group’s leadership.
Qatar, which has played a key role in the negotiations, too wants discussions on the details of Trump’s Gaza peace deal. Qatar’s stance appeared to reflect Arab countries’ discontent over the text of the 20-point plan put out by the White House after Trump-Netanyahu talks, according to the Associated Press.
To finalise the deal, discussions were happening on September 29 in two places—Washington DC and Doha—simultaneously. While Trump and Netanyahu discussed the details at the White House, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was presenting it to Hamas leaders in Doha, Axios quoted a source as saying.
Hours earlier, Trump made Netanyahu call up Thani and apologise to him for the recent strike in Qatar. The strike was aimed at Hamas officials who have been hosted by Qatar for years. The public apology made Qatar resume its efforts as an interlocutor with Hamas.
WHAT ARE THE CHANGES MADE TO THE GAZA PEACE PLAN?
Netanyahu managed to secure “significant 11th-hour changes” to Trump’s proposal regarding the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrawal from Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas, according to The Times of Israel.
There were two sticking points, one on the IDF’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the other of Hamas’ disarmament.
Point 3 of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, according to The Times of Israel, stated that “Israeli forces will withdraw to the battle lines as of when the [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff proposal was presented to prepare for hostage release.”
However, the updated version presented by the White House stated that “Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed-upon line”.
It refers to a new map and presents a scope for the IDF to remain in most of Gaza even after the first pullback, enabling a release of hostages by Hamas.
Even after the International Stabilization Force (ISF) of Arab and Muslim countries is deployed and Hamas is disarmed, the IDF would still be in Gaza, and, finally, ringfence the Palestinian territory with troops.
On disarmament of Hamas too, The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu got a change in the text, benefiting Israel.
Whereas the version presented to the Muslim nations granted amnesty to “Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence”, the new agreement adds that those members also have to “decommission their weapons”.
MUSLIM COUNTRIES FURIOUS OVER CHANGES IN GAZA PEACE PLAN
Officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey were reportedly furious over the changes, according to sources with knowledge.
The Axios report even suggests that Qataris even tried to convince the Trump administration not to release the detailed plan due to those objections.
But the White House released it anyway, pushing the Arab and Muslim countries to support the plan.
Leaders of Arab and Islamic nations are now facing fierce backlash for Trump’s Gaza peace plan and for recognising Israel. Critics, including activists on X, labelled leaders “traitors to the Ummah,” accusing them of trading Palestinian sovereignty for geopolitical favour amid Gaza’s crisis.
“They hoped so much—for the hundredth time—that ‘Trump would turn against Netanyahu’. And they were disappointed again—for the hundredth time—to discover that Trump and Netanyahu are aligned on everything. Predictions: They won’t learn anything, and will continue to hope and be disappointed even for the hundred-and-first time,” wrote entrepreneur and investor Eli David on X.
QATAR, EGYPT, AND TURKEY URGING HAMAS TO ACCEPT TRUMP’S GAZA PEACE PLAN
Meanwhile, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, key mediators with ties to Hamas, have been urging the group to accept Trump’s proposal, according to Axios.
On September 29, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad met Hamas leaders in Doha to present the plan, emphasising its potential to end the war. A follow-up meeting on September 30 included Turkish intelligence director Ebrahim Kalin.
Al-Thani stressed that the plan, despite needing clarification, achieves the goal of halting the conflict. However, Hamas has expressed reservations and is seeking consensus with other Palestinian factions.
Journalist Jeremy Scahill of DropSiteNews, which covers Gaza, West Asia, and US foreign policy, noted, “Important fact that no one mentions: On August 18, Hamas formally agreed to 98% of the Gaza ‘ceasefire’ terms that the US and Israel demanded. Israel then attempted to assassinate the Palestinian negotiators in Doha. And now the Trump admin claims it has a new ‘ceasefire’ plan.”
Qatar has called for further negotiations to refine the plan’s details, while Trump insists there is little room for renegotiation.
The friction is over the changes favouring Israel on disarmament timelines and withdrawal conditions.
