Senior Hamas leaders in Doha told to lay down weapons after Trump ceasefire proposal
Doha-based senior Hamas leaders have been told to lay down their arms as part of the efforts to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel, according to a Thursday morning report from The Times newspaper.
The report comes after US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to the US-proposed ceasefire conditions.
The Hamas terror group said it has been "holding discussions to reach an agreement that will ensure the end of aggressions, the withdrawal of forces, and grantaid to the people of Gaza," The Times report added.
The Times stated that those told to lay down their weapons were "the most senior Hamas leaders outside Gaza, including the lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya and other key figures."
One of the key figures reportedly included Hamas political bureau member Zaher Jabareen, "a founder of the group's military wing in the West Bank."
An additional bureau member told to lay down weapons was Muhammad Ismail Darwish, who had "met the leaders of Iran and Turkey this year while shuttling between Cairo and Doha for indirect negotiations with Israel," the report said.
The move is seen as a symbolic reflection of Hamas's interest in the ceasefire proposal, as Israel has demanded the total disarmament of Hamas as a condition to end the war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the elimination of Hamas in his first public remarks on Wednesday since Trump announced his "final proposal" for the 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.
"There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamastan. We're not going back to that. It's over. We will free all our hostages," Netanyahu stated.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night that he hopes Hamas agrees to take the deal "for the good of the Middle East."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
14 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
U.S. envoy receives the Lebanese government's response to Hezbollah disarmament proposal
BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. envoy said Monday he was satisfied with the Lebanese government's response to a proposal to disarm the militant Hezbollah group, adding that Washington is ready to help the small crisis-hit nation emerge from its long-running political and economic crisis. The U.S. envoy to Lebanon, Tom Barrack, spoke to journalists after meeting President Joseph Aoun, saying he will study the government's seven-page response. Barrack said the American and Lebanese sides are committed 'to get a resolution.' 'What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time and a very complicated manner,' Barrack said during his 20-minute news conference at the presidential palace southeast of Beirut. His meetings in Lebanon came amid fears that Hezbollah's refusal to immediately disarm would renew war between Israel after a shaky ceasefire agreement went into effect in November. Last month, Barrack gave Lebanese officials a proposal that aims to disarm Hezbollah and move on with some economic reforms to try get Lebanon out of its nearly 6-year economic crisis, the worst in its modern history. The economic meltdown is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon's political class. Barrack said Lebanon should change in the same way as Syria has following the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar Assad,who was replaced by a new leadership that is moving ahead with major economic reforms. Barrack said President Donald Trump and the U.S. are ready to help Lebanon change and 'if you don't want change, it's no problem." The rest of the region is moving at high speed," he said. Hezbollah's weapons have been one of the principal sticking points since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation. The two sides fought a destructive war in 2006 that ended in a draw. The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began a day after the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and intensified in September, leaving the Iran-backed group badly bruised and much of its political and military leadership dead. Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect in November, Hezbollah has almost ended all its military presence along the border with Israel, which is insisting that the group disarms all over Lebanon. Aoun said Sunday that the number of Lebanese troops along the border with Israel will increase to 10,000, adding that only Lebanese soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers will be armed on the Lebanese side of the border. On Sunday night, hours before Barrack arrived in Beirut, Israel's air force carried out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, wounding nine people, according to state media. The Israeli army said the airstrikes hit Hezbollah's infrastructure, arms depots and missile launchers. Earlier Sunday, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem reiterated the militant group's refusal to lay down its weapons before Israel withdraws from all of southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes. The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war. Since the November ceasefire, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon, killing about 250 people and injuring over 600. Israel is also still holding five strategic posts inside Lebanon that it refused to withdraw from earlier this year.
San Francisco Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Israel and Hamas are inching toward a new ceasefire deal for Gaza. This is how it might look
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington Monday to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a ceasefire that might lead to an end to the 21-month war in Gaza. Israel and Hamas are considering a new U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal that would pause the war, free Israeli hostages and send much-needed aid flooding into Gaza. It also aims to open broader talks about ending the conflict. Negotiations have repeatedly stalled over Hamas' demands for an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel wants Hamas to surrender and disarm before it ends the war. Here is a look at how the truce might look, according to that draft: — The truce would last 60 days. — 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 would be released in phases throughout the truce. — Palestinian prisoners held by Israel will be released in exchange for the hostages, although precise numbers were not detailed. — Humanitarian aid entering Gaza would be ramped up significantly and would be distributed by the United Nations. The proposal makes no mention of the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. — Israeli forces would withdraw to a buffer zone along Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt. Israel has seized large swaths of the territory since ending a previous ceasefire in March. — On the first day of the truce, the sides are expected to begin negotiations toward an end to the war, but no timeline is mentioned. — The mediators — the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — will serve as guarantors to make sure the sides negotiate in good faith. — While there is no guarantee the war would end, the proposal states that Trump insists the talks during the truce 'would lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict.'
Washington Post
18 minutes ago
- Washington Post
U.S. envoy receives the Lebanese government's response to Hezbollah disarmament proposal
BEIRUT — A U.S. envoy said Monday he was satisfied with the Lebanese government's response to a proposal to disarm the militant Hezbollah group , adding that Washington is ready to help the small crisis-hit nation emerge from its long-running political and economic crisis. The U.S. envoy to Lebanon, Tom Barrack, spoke to journalists after meeting President Joseph Aoun, saying he will study the government's seven-page response. Barrack said the American and Lebanese sides are committed 'to get a resolution.'
