President Donald Trump's peace plan was met with cautious optimism Tuesday by leaders across the Middle East and the world, but others were more skeptical about the proposal — and whether it would be welcomed by Hamas.
The plan was unveiled by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after talks that appeared to exclude Hamas, with the militant group saying “not a single Palestinian” had seen the plan before it was announced.
Trump said Tuesday that Hamas had "three or four days" to respond to the plan, adding that there would be "not much" room for negotiation. If Hamas were to reject the deal, he told reporters as he departed the White House, he would let Israel "go and do what they have to do."
A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry said that mediators Qatar and Egypt delivered Trump’s plan to Hamas on Monday in Doha and that a discussion would take place later Tuesday.
As the world awaited Hamas' response, global powers lined up behind the U.S.-backed plan to end the Israeli assault and free hostages still held in the devastated Palestinian enclave.
In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan welcomed the 20-point plan, calling Trump's efforts "sincere."
It also received support from Europe, where a number of countries had recently defied Washington to formally recognize Palestinian statehood. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Hamas to agree to the plan, while Germany and the European Union itself offered public backing.
Trump branded the moment a “historic day for peace” — but he warned that if the militant group did not agree to the proposal, Israel would have U.S. backing to “finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.”
Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of Gaza's Hamas-run government media office, called the plan an "attempt to impose a new form of guardianship" on the besieged enclave. But Hamas said Tuesday that it would study the plan before providing its official response, The Associated Press news agency reported.
The plan would require Hamas members to lay down their arms, a demand the group has previously rejected.
The Palestinian Authority, which partially runs the occupied West Bank, welcomed the plan, praising Trump for his "sincere and tireless efforts" to "end the war on Gaza" and reiterating its commitment to making reforms that could pave the way for a future Palestinian state.
Under the plan, Israel’s offensive in Gaza would end immediately once it’s agreed by both sides, with all hostages, alive and dead, to be released within a 72-hour period. The plan says no one will be forced to leave Gaza.
A pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood is outlined as a possibility — but not a guarantee.
And hours after announcing the plan alongside Trump, Netanyahu vowed again to oppose a Palestinian state. "Instead of Hamas isolating us, we turned the tables and isolated Hamas," Netanyahu said in a Hebrew video discussing his U.S. trip.
Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer and former adviser to Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization, said Palestinians and leaders across the Middle East had little choice but to accept the plan.
She nonetheless criticized it as having “not a single guarantee” for the people of Gaza, who would be overseen by an international security force and a transitional authority chaired by Trump.
"Because everybody wants to see an end to the genocide, you're going to see that so many people are going to welcome this plan," Buttu told NBC News in a phone interview.
But, she said, "there’s not a single guarantee that’s being given to Palestinians, not one." Buttu added that she had little faith in the possibility that the plan if executed would lead to internationally recognized Palestinian statehood.
In Gaza, weary Palestinians have long been desperate to see an end to Israel’s deadly offensive in the enclave.
“Life is unbearable, there’s nothing — no food, no drinks no clothes,” Abdallah Qamar told the AP last week from famine-stricken Gaza City, where Israel has been carrying out a sweeping ground offensive.
In Israel, the plan to end the assault is likely to be welcomed by many within a populace increasingly critical of the war. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of hostages, welcomed the plan.
For Ilay David, whose brother Evyatar remains in captivity in Gaza and is believed to be alive, the plan offers a glimmer of hope.
“I’m trying not to get my expectations too high. I try to protect my soul because in this very long journey it happened many, many times that we saw this maybe a resolution to this issue. And then boom, something collapses, something is messed up and everything goes much much back. I pray. I pray,” he told NBC News in an interview.
He added, “To see the support worldwide from side to side in Israel and abroad, maybe it is different.”
The proposal is unlikely to win favor, however, among the far-right members of Netanyahu's fragile government coalition upon whom his leadership relies.
In a lengthy post on X on Tuesday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he believed Trump's plan would only "end in tears," calling early celebrations "absurd."
On that, Buttu agreed, condemning the apparent lack of involvement of Palestinians in the bid to determine their future.
"They're deciding and talking about Palestinians, but never to Palestinians — and that's the part that is truly terrifying."
