[News] How Hamas Is Navigating Trump’s Gaza Ultimatum
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Thu Oct 2 14:13:31 EDT 2025
In an exclusive interview, veteran Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal
discusses strategy, red lines, and Israel’s attempt to assassinate
Palestinian negotiators.
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for more
How Hamas Is Navigating Trump’s Gaza Ultimatum
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In an exclusive interview, veteran Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal
discusses strategy, red lines, and Israel’s attempt to assassinate
Palestinian negotiators.
Jeremy Scahill <https://substack.com/@jeremyscahill> and Jawa Ahmad
<https://substack.com/@jawaahmad>
Oct 2, 2025
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-hamas-trump-netanyahu-ceasefire-nazzal-palestine-israel-qatar?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2510348&post_id=175077259&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=lvppb&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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/Senior Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal in an interview with Drop Site
News on October 1, 2025./
Hamas officials are conducting an intense series of meetings with
Palestinian factions and regional mediators to formulate the Palestinian
response to the 20-point Gaza plan announced by President Donald Trump
and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on
Monday. On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to respond to
what is effectively an ultimatum, threatening the U.S. would empower
Israel to indefinitely continue its war of annihilation on Gaza if Hamas
did not agree to the plan wholesale. When asked if there is room for
Hamas to negotiate the terms, Trump replied, “not much.”
“Trump is dealing with us as if we have to accept this plan based on the
well-known English phrase: Take it or leave it. This is unacceptable in
political practice. It cannot be a matter of either accepting or
rejecting an agreement outright,” said Mohammad Nazzal, a veteran Hamas
official and longtime member of its political bureau, in an interview
with Drop Site. “This plan was formulated without the participation of
Hamas or any Palestinian party, including the Palestinian Authority. So
how can the U.S. administration reach an agreement with one side of the
conflict while excluding the Palestinian side?”
“This plan is not Trump’s plan; it is an Israeli plan,” he added. “I say
this with deep regret: the United States of America has come to act as
an agent of the Zionist entity.”
Nonetheless, Nazzal—who has been a member of Hamas since 1989 and has
served in its political bureau since 1996—said Hamas is carefully
reviewing the document and would soon offer its official response. “We
are approaching the plan with a high degree of responsibility,” he said.
“We began studying it and holding consultations as soon as we received it.”
While Nazzal said some aspects of the proposal may be acceptable to
Hamas and closely align with principles the group had previously agreed
to, he described most of the terms as Israeli edicts. “Public opinion
within the Palestinian factions is uncomfortable with the plan that was
presented. There are some positives in the plan, but the negatives
outweigh them,” he said. “Unless the plan is changed or significant
modifications are made to certain points, I believe it will be difficult
to accept it as it stands.”
As in previous “ceasefire” talks, Hamas negotiators plan to draft a
series of proposed amendments and requests for more details on various
terms outlined in the proposal. “It is clear that the plan is a broad
and vague outline that, by its nature, requires negotiation. Every point
mentioned in the plan needs a negotiation process. We do not want to
proceed on the basis that what is presented in the plan represents a
final, non-negotiable position,” Nazzal said. “Trump wants to impose
what he wants through this plan. He was clear on the issues related to
Israeli demands, but vague on the positions related to Palestinian demands.”
Within 72 hours of an agreement, the plan says, Hamas must release all
Israeli captives held in Gaza. There are believed to be 20 living
Israelis and the bodies of 28 deceased remaining in the Strip. Only
after all captives are freed would Israel then release 250 Palestinians
sentenced to life and 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza taken captive after
October 7, 2023, including all women and children. In exchange for the
remains of each deceased Israeli held in Gaza, Israel would return the
bodies of 15 Palestinians, according to the plan.
*Read Drop Site’s full breakdown of the 20-point plan, released by the
U.S. on Monday, here.
<https://substack.com/redirect/a75d3d18-188c-4d5b-9e51-5c530dfbcdab?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>*
Hamas is well aware that its only real leverage is the fact that it
continues to hold Israelis in Gaza. “It is possible that this agreement
will last only 72 hours, meaning they would take the Israeli captives
and then not follow through with the rest of the agreement. There are no
guarantees,” Nazzal said. “That’s why I believe that when we delve into
the details of the plan, we must include guarantees that ensure the
agreement is fully implemented and not cut short. There must be
guarantees that the release of all captives in those initial hours will
not allow the Americans and Israelis to walk away from fulfilling the
rest of the deal.”
These concerns are well founded. Israel has repeatedly violated the
terms of previous ceasefire agreements, including the January 2025 deal
that was endorsed by both Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden. Israel
conducted regular strikes inside Gaza during the first phase of the deal
and then unilaterally abandoned the agreement entirely in March, imposed
a sweeping blockade, and resumed its scorched earth bombing of Gaza.
The new Trump plan requires the “demilitarization of Gaza” and links the
delivery of humanitarian aid and life essentials to a vague
certification that areas of Gaza are demilitarized. “All military,
terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon
production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt,” it states.
“There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the
supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons
permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning.”
Hamas has long maintained that it will not sign an agreement that would
strip Palestinians of their right of armed resistance against Israeli
occupation.
“The weapons that Hamas has are light weapons compared to what the
Israelis have. The Zionist entity has a nuclear reactor and possesses a
nuclear bomb. No one talks about disarming this Zionist entity, while
there is talk about disarming the Palestinian resistance,” Nazzal said.
“The discussion about disarming the resistance should come after the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state.” Hamas officials have
previously told Drop Site that armed resistance factions would only
disband as part of a process of integrating their fighters into a
Palestinian national army capable of defending an independent state.
A fact that is seldom mentioned in the Western media around Trump’s Gaza
plan is that on August 18 Hamas formally accepted
<https://substack.com/redirect/82a705a5-21b5-4de6-a97c-ac7b5577f0c3?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>the
previous U.S.-Israeli ceasefire framework. In doing so, Hamas made major
concessions on a range of issues. That deal would have included a 60-day
initial ceasefire and the release of half of the remaining Israeli
captives. Israel never responded to Hamas’s acceptance and instead
launched a massive ground invasion of Gaza City and announced its intent
to force a million Palestinians from their homes and shelters.
The last time Hamas negotiators convened to discuss a response to a U.S.
offer was on September 9. Trump sent Hamas a 100-word summary
<https://substack.com/redirect/13ade1fd-bd37-4c0f-bb11-58775fb1637c?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>of
a purported ceasefire plan via regional mediators. As lead negotiator
Khalil Al-Hayya and other senior officials gathered in Hamas’s offices
in Doha to discuss it, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of
airstrikes intended to assassinate them. While Al-Hayya and the other
leaders survived, Al-Hayya’s son and four Hamas office workers were
killed and Al-Hayya’s wife, daughter-in-law and grandchildren were all
wounded. A Qatari security officer was also killed.
Multiple Hamas sources told Drop Site that, following the attack,
several senior Hamas leaders in Qatar, including Al-Hayya, were moved to
secure locations and restrictions were placed on their use of phones and
other electronic devices. Qatar, the sources said, told Hamas officials
the measures were necessary because there was still an active threat
against them. This severely impaired the ability of the movement’s
leaders to communicate with each other and with resistance commanders on
the ground in Gaza. “In the first three weeks following the
assassination operation, there were exceptional security measures for
the leaders who were targeted or expected to be targeted,” Nazzal said,
adding that since Trump’s proposal was delivered to Hamas on Monday, its
leaders have been able to more freely congregate. “Movement and
communications began with Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish officials after
we received Trump’s plan. That is why contacts have now resumed.”
In order for any ceasefire agreement Hamas signs to be valid, it would
require the assent of the ground commanders from Qassam Brigades and
Saraya al Quds, the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,
in Gaza. Nazzal said that shortly before the attempted assassination
strike in Qatar, Hamas’s leadership inside Gaza authorized its external
negotiators to make decisions on the terms of a deal. “I don’t believe
there is any issue in stances between the military and political
leadership,” Nazzal said. “I believe the issue now centers on deciding a
position regarding the plan proposed by Trump.”
Nazzal joined Hamas soon after the group’s founding in 1987 and has held
various positions over the ensuing decades, including representing the
movement in Jordan and Syria and serving on its international council.
In October 1997, he was among the senior Hamas officials who appeared
publicly in Amman with the group’s founder and spiritual leader Sheikh
Ahmed Yassin after he was freed from an Israeli prison. Nazzal is an
influential member of Hamas’s political bureau and was placed under
sanctions by the U.S. government in 2024.
Whatever response Hamas submits to Trump would carry with it the
endorsement of a range of Palestinian groups, Nazzal emphasized—not just
those with armed resistance forces fighting in Gaza. “We believe this is
a national issue that concerns the Palestinian people. Hamas, Islamic
Jihad, and some other factions are leading the military resistance
against the occupation. However, there are many Palestinian parties that
must be consulted,” he said. “We do not treat what is happening in the
Gaza Strip as solely Hamas’s issue—rather, it concerns the entire
Palestinian people. That is why we consult with all Palestinian factions
to ensure that the position is a comprehensive and unified national stance.”
While most Palestinian parties and prominent political leaders have
participated in these “national unity” consultations throughout the
genocide, Fatah, the ruling political party of Mahmoud Abbas, president
of the Palestinian Authority, has refused to participate. “We have
continuously tried to extend a hand of cooperation and relationship,”
said Nazzal. “Unfortunately, the position of the Palestinian Authority,
specifically Abbas, has always been negative.”
<https://substack.com/redirect/98244191-a04c-49c6-9dd3-e6be74836457?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
Mohammad Nazzal, right, speaks to journalists in Amman, Jordan on
October 6, 1997. To his left is Hamas founder and spiritual leader
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin who was assassinated by Israel in 2004. Behind them
are senior Hamas leaders Mousa Abu Marzouk, Khaled Meshaal, and Ibrahim
Ghosheh. Photo by JAMAL NASRALLAH/AFP via Getty Images.
*The Deception Game*
In the initial meetings Tuesday in Doha, regional mediators from Qatar
and Egypt, as well as officials from Turkey, told Hamas that the
Palestinian side should state its positions and objections to the Trump
outline, Nazzal said. “It is our right to express these observations.
Therefore, regardless of the American position on our stance, we cannot
give a blank check or sign off blindly on an agreement we were not part
of—whether the United States accepts that or not,” Nazzal said. The
mediators “expressed an understanding that Hamas has the right to voice
its observations, especially since it was not involved in the dialogue
between the Americans and the Israelis.”
The framework was drafted in coordination with Netanyahu’s top adviser,
Ron Dermer, and spearheaded by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Kushner, who reportedly took the lead in
shoring up Arab support, is often touted by Trump as the mastermind of
the so-called Abraham Accord “normalization” agreements with Israel.
Kushner has extensive business dealings in Gulf countries and Israel and
his investment firm, Affinity Partners, is backed by billions of dollars
from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
The Trump proposal includes plans for “investment proposals and exciting
development ideas” in Gaza to be managed by an “international
transitional body” that would effectively take control of the Strip.
During his appearance alongside Netanyahu on Monday, Trump called Gaza
“the most magnificent piece of land in many ways in the Middle East.”
Asked about whether Kushner’s business interests represent a conflict of
interest, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt denounced the
suggestion as “frankly despicable.”
Since Trump unveiled his plan on Monday, officials from several Arab and
other Muslim states implied they were blindsided by Trump when he
stepped to the podium with Netanyahu and claimed the plan he outlined
had their full support. Publicly, these nations offered words of praise
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Trump’s “sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza” but did not explicitly
endorse his 20-point plan.
Some of them have claimed that the final text distributed by the White
House was markedly different from drafts those countries were shown and
to which they offered their feedback and ultimate endorsement.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar said, “This is not our document,”
adding that the outline released by Trump and Netanyahu should be viewed
as “an announcement from their side.”
After Arab and Muslim countries had indicated last week that they would
support Trump’s plan, Trump allowed Netanyahu and Dermer to make
significant changes to the terms, in some cases removing or
substantively altering items that those nations had understood would be
in the document. “Netanyahu managed to secure noteworthy changes
following a pair of hours-long meetings” with Kushner and Witkoff last
week, according
<https://substack.com/redirect/37027093-f6e0-4593-bde1-bc047d5bc2f2?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>to
the Times of Israel. These “significant 11th-hour changes” included
making Israeli troop withdrawals contingent upon Hamas’s disarmament.
Some changes were reportedly made inside the White House moments before
Trump and Netanyahu took the stage to announce the plan. “Officials from
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey were furious over the changes,”
reported
<https://substack.com/redirect/0819b03e-c244-4807-8a4e-47f83e054e1a?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>Axios.
“The Qataris even tried to convince the Trump administration not to
release the detailed plan on Monday due to those objections.”
“These [Muslim] countries have fallen into a deception, and some of them
have informed us of this,” Nazzal said. “The deception lies in the fact
that what was agreed upon is not the same as what was announced. This is
a major political scandal,” he added. “As the world’s greatest
superpower, it is disgraceful for [the United States] to engage in
deceiving countries that are considered its allies.”
A growing number of Muslim nations are now suggesting that the terms, as
published, need to be revisited, though they are choosing their words
carefully. Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdel Aaty said Trump’s plan
“contains many positive elements,” but added, “there are also elements
that require extensive discussion and, as the saying goes, the devil is
in the details. Therefore, these issues must be discussed in depth in
order to reach a consensus on them, especially with regard to
implementation on the ground.”
On Tuesday, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin
Jassim Al Thani praised aspects of Trump’s plan, saying it addressed the
most urgent issues, namely a ceasefire, but added that there were
“practical and implementation challenges” to be worked out through
negotiations. This, he said, “is primarily the work of the Palestinian
side with the Israeli side, but also as a broader supporting
international community, there must be a clear and legal framework for
this matter, which of course will be at the UN Security Council.”
Whether Trump would now entertain new language or amendments proposed by
Qatar, Egypt and other nations involved with the negotiations, let alone
Hamas, is an open question.
Since Monday, officials from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other
Palestinian groups have universally denounced the plan as a naked ploy
by Israel to attempt to achieve through this proposal what it has failed
to win on the battlefield.
Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the secretary general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad
(PIJ), the second largest armed resistance group in Gaza, called the
proposal “a recipe for continued aggression against the Palestinian
people,” saying, “we consider the American-Israeli announcement a recipe
for igniting the region.”
The Trump plan, if accepted by Hamas as written, would have far reaching
ramifications for the cause of Palestinian self-determination, not just
in Gaza.
Mohammed Al-Hindi, the chief political negotiator for PIJ, said
Wednesday evening that within Trump’s proposal there are two different
tracks that Palestinian negotiators need to separate. The first
addresses the active war on the ground and terms for a ceasefire,
exchange of captives, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza
Strip. These terms, he said, Hamas and PIJ have the authority to
negotiate because they are fighting the war. “The Palestinian resistance
needs to introduce some amendments on this point that concerns the
resistance, because from the beginning we said there is no objection
from the resistance to a comprehensive deal that includes the release of
all prisoners in the hands of the resistance in exchange for stopping
the aggression and withdrawal,” Al-Hindi said in an interview with
Al-Araby television. Among the issues he said must be negotiated are
guarantees that Israel would fully withdraw its forces and not resume
the genocide, as well as the formulas for the freeing of Palestinians
held captive by Israel.
The second track of Trump’s proposal, he said, introduces sweeping
concepts that would forever alter the course of the fight for
Palestinian statehood and self-determination. Al-Hindi said that Hamas
and PIJ do not have the exclusive mandate to make agreements on behalf
of all Palestinians. “As for the general national issues, they concern
the entire Palestinian homeland. There is no resistance, no Hamas, no
Jihad, no one authorized to speak alone about the Palestinian national
project,” Al-Hindi said. “For example, the day after, the future of
governance in Gaza and the future of the West Bank—these concern every
Palestinian and we are not authorized to decide them alone. They require
broader consultations. What is in the paper is an assault on the
Palestinian national liberation project: It amounts to an American
mandate in favor of Israel.”
Regarding Gaza specifically, Trump’s plan would permit Israeli forces to
remain entrenched inside the Strip indefinitely and link the delivery of
food, medicine and life essentials to a nebulous system of verifying the
disarmament of Palestinian resistance groups. It would also impose a
foreign authority to oversee the running of Gaza, backed by the
deployment of an international armed force. The plan would also require
that Hamas release all Israeli captives held in Gaza before any
Palestinians would be freed. The proposal offers no mechanism to ensure
Israel complies with the agreement and Netanyahu said Monday that Israel
has no intention of entirely withdrawing from Gaza.
While officials from Hamas and other groups have made clear their
opposition to the terms within the plan, none of these sentiments yet
represent an official response. Hamas is under tremendous pressure from
inside Gaza to negotiate an end to the genocide, relentless bombings,
forced displacements and the mass starvation campaign. Several Hamas
officials have told Drop Site over the past several months that the
group understands that whatever decisions are made in an effort to end
the genocide will impact not just Hamas, but the very future of the
broader Palestinian cause.
Nazzal said that Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and its attacks against
nations across the region over the past two years should also serve as
an ominous warning to all Arab nations. “We, as the Palestinian people,
part of the Arab and Islamic region, must coexist with the Arab and
Islamic reality. We must deepen our ties with the Arab regimes, maintain
communication with them, and work to convince them that the Zionist
project poses a danger to them,” he said.
Nazzal cited comments made by Netanyahu in an Israeli TV interview
<https://substack.com/redirect/d9684d03-5533-4573-8c37-34e9447c05f2?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>in
August where Netanyahu said he was on a “historic and spiritual mission”
and felt “very much” connected to the concept of a Greater Israel and
the Promised Land.
“Netanyahu proposed the Greater Israel project, and this project is
dangerous. By Greater Israel, he means Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Look at
the ongoing aggression against Syria, despite the fact that Syria has
done nothing since the new regime came to power. Look at the aggression
against Lebanon,” Nazzal added. “The Zionist project is a danger not
only to the Palestinians but to the entire region. This requires the
Arab regimes to change their policies, to view the Zionist project with
suspicion and concern, and to take practical measures to confront this
project.”
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Restack
<https://substack.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.6OY-WiZVA8vbGInxTcO52I1dgghAUJ-Li1yNgwQBM1c?&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email>
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