[News] Explainer: How Hamas stumped Trump, outwitted Netanyahu with its Gaza 'plan' response

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Explainer: How Hamas stumped Trump, outwitted Netanyahu with its Gaza
'plan' responseOctober 4, 2025
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*By Press TV Website Staff*

*In a move that surprised many astute political pundits, the Gaza-based
resistance movement Hamas released a very strategic and diplomatic response
on Friday to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point “Gaza plan.”*

The group agreed, in principle, to release all remaining Israeli captives
and to transfer administrative authority to a transitional body as part of
a framework to end the year-long genocidal war on Gaza.

However, Hamas underscored that any decision concerning Gaza’s future
governance must be rooted in national consensus and determined by the
Palestinian people themselves, not by external actors.

Political analysts described Hamas’s response as a diplomatic masterstroke
that caught Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu off guard and exposed
his plans to again derail the process.

Trump welcomed the response, going so far as to publish Hamas’s full
statement on social media, noting the group is “ready for lasting peace”
and calling on Israel to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza.”

*What did Trump’s 20-point plan include?*

Trump’s much-advertised 20-point “proposal” claimed to offer Gaza a pathway
to peace – a “deradicalised, terror-free zone” rebuilt under international
supervision and led by Trump himself.

Marketed as a plan for peace and reconstruction, observers see it as an
attempt to reshape Gaza’s future while reasserting Israeli and American
control over its affairs – both political and economic.

The proposal’s promise is deceptively simple: if both sides agree, the war
ends immediately. Israel would halt its genocidal bombardments and withdraw
to the agreed-upon lines, freezing the front until conditions are met for a
staged withdrawal.

Within 72 hours of Israel’s acceptance, all captives would be returned —
alive or deceased. In exchange, Israel would release a limited number of
Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences and 1,700
others detained since October 7, 2023.

Beyond that, the deal sketches out a political order that amounts to
external administration of Gaza — with local governance subordinated to a
so-called “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump and including controversial
pro-war figures such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The board would oversee Gaza’s redevelopment, economic planning, and even
its political transition for five years, until a reformed Palestinian
Authority is deemed “ready” to take over.

Many say it looks alarmingly like a twenty-first-century protectorate — a
zone stripped of sovereignty and rebuilt according to the priorities of
foreign hegemonic powers and private investors.

Under the plan, Gaza’s reconstruction would be driven by what is being
called the Trump Economic Development Plan, inspired by the gleaming
modernist cities of the Persian Gulf

A special economic zone would offer preferential tariffs and investment
incentives, while a panel of experts would design a “modern, efficient
governance” model intended to attract capital.

In theory, jobs, infrastructure, and opportunity would replace despair and
radicalization. In practice, the plan seeks to entrench dependency on
foreign money and influence, sidelining local political agency, in line
with the blueprint Americans applied in Afghanistan for nearly two decades.

Even the proposal’s humanitarian provisions carry conditions. The influx of
aid would be controlled entirely by international institutions such as the
UN and the Red Crescent, excluding Palestinians. The Rafah crossing would
reopen only under the same mechanism as the January 2025 humanitarian
agreement, reinforcing Gaza’s isolation from its own borders and neighbors.

Security, too, would no longer be in Palestinian hands. A new so-called
International Stabilisation Force (ISF), organized by the US and its
partners, would assume responsibility for internal order and border
control. The ISF would train vetted Palestinian police, coordinate with
Israel and Egypt.

Israeli occupation forces would gradually withdraw, retaining a “security
perimeter” until Gaza is deemed fully stable, a vague condition that
effectively leaves Israel in control for an undefined period.

The demilitarization process, while presented as essential for peace, reads
like total disarmament under occupation. All tunnels, weapons, and
production facilities would be destroyed, with independent monitors
verifying compliance.

While the plan insists that no one will be forced to leave Gaza, it also
signals that Hamas members would have to leave. The language of
“deradicalisation” raises further concerns about how dissent, resistance,
or even political expression would be defined or suppressed under the
Trump-led regime.

*What did Hamas say in its response to Trump’s plan?*

In its response, which came following Trump’s theatrical threat of “all
hell breaking loose,” Hamas made it categorically clear that it seeks peace
and order without any compromises.

“Out of keenness to stop the aggression and the war of extermination to
which our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip are being subjected, and based
on national responsibility, and out of concern for the constants, rights,
and supreme interests of our people, the Islamic Resistance Movement
"Hamas" conducted in-depth consultations within its leadership
institutions, wide-ranging consultations with Palestinian factions and
forces, and consultations with brother mediators and friends, to reach a
responsible position in dealing with the plan of American President Donald
Trump,” read the statement.

The movement appreciated the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as
well as Trump, for seeking an end to the genocidal war, the exchange of
captives, the entry of aid, the rejection of the occupation of the strip,
and the rejection of the displacement of Palestinian people from it.

In this context, Hamas announced its approval to release all Israeli
captives, living and deceased, according to the exchange formula mentioned
in Trump's proposal, provided that the field conditions for it are secured,
affirming its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the
mediators to discuss the details.

Hamas also agreed to hand over the administration of Gaza to a Palestinian
body of technocrats “based on Palestinian national consensus” and based on
Arab and Islamic support.

“As for the other issues mentioned in President Trump's proposal concerning
the future of the Gaza Strip and the authentic rights of the Palestinian
people, this is linked to a comprehensive national position and based on
relevant international laws and resolutions, and it will be discussed
through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework of which Hamas will
be a part and to which it will contribute with full responsibility,” the
statement noted.

Essentially, Hamas’s response was divided into two parts. In the first, the
group addressed issues within its mandate to negotiate — the release of
captives in exchange for ending the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces
from Gaza, and the delivery of aid and reconstruction efforts.

The second part dealt with the question of Gaza’s future. Here, Hamas
called for a national consensus, asserting that it is the Palestinian
people and their institutions — not external powers — who must determine
their own political and administrative destiny.

*How did resistance movements react to Hamas' response?*

In a series of statements that point to both pragmatism and firm red lines,
Hamas leaders expressed readiness to enter direct negotiations over a
potential ceasefire and captive exchange — while emphatically rejecting any
proposal that would place Gaza under foreign administration.

Speaking to Al-Araby, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the movement
is prepared to begin “immediate direct negotiations” to arrange the
exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners and set the
necessary conditions for implementing such a deal.

“This matter requires entering into direct negotiations for its
arrangements,” Hamdan said in the interview. “We believe that once we enter
into the details, more time will be needed than the 72 hours mentioned in
the proposal.”

Hamdan stressed that Hamas is willing to engage on all issues within its
mandate, including the release of captives, ending the genocidal war, and
the reconstruction of Gaza, but drew a sharp line at the idea of
non-Palestinian governance of the territory.

“We do not accept that the affairs of Gaza, as a part of Palestine, be
managed by any non-Palestinian party. The entry of foreign forces or a
foreign administration into the Gaza Strip is an issue that is not
acceptable to Palestinians,” he asserted.

Instead, Hamas reaffirmed its support for handing over Gaza’s
administration to a Palestinian technocratic body, composed of
professionals and linked to the Palestinian Authority.

“There is a Palestinian national agreement,” Hamdan said, “that a national
Palestinian body, connected to the Palestinian Authority, will manage the
Gaza Strip.”

He emphasized that the question of Gaza’s political future — and, more
broadly, the future of the Palestinian state — must be resolved within a
“broad national framework.”

Hamas, he said, does not claim the exclusive right to make such decisions.
“Future issues related to the Palestinian state must be answered within a
broad national framework... Hamas does not monopolize the right to answer
them alone.”

At the same time, Hamdan dismissed attempts to marginalize Hamas
politically. “Attempts to exclude Hamas from the Palestinian political
process will not succeed,” he warned.

Meanwhile, Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzouk, speaking to
Al-Jazeera, also said that the movement is ready to negotiate not only the
exchange deal but all aspects of the proposed plan, including sensitive
issues related to governance and weapons.

He also addressed the proposed deployment of a multinational peacekeeping
force — one of the most controversial elements of the plan. “All details
related to the peacekeeping force require understanding and clarification,”
he asserted.

Marzouk insisted that Hamas remains a national liberation movement,
rejecting the label of terrorism contained in the plan. “The definition of
terrorism in the plan cannot be applied to Hamas,” he said

Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also released a statement supporting
Hamas’s position.

It described Hamas’s response to the Trump plan as “an expression of the
position of the Palestinian resistance forces,” confirming that Islamic
Jihad “participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this
decision.”

*How did Israel react to Hamas’ response?*

Following the announcement of Hamas’ response to Trump’s proposal, the
Israeli occupation forces intensified their bombing campaign in the
northern Gaza Strip.

According to reports, intense aerial bombardment and shelling were
witnessed across Gaza City.

More than ten Israeli airstrikes struck the Al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza
City on Saturday, igniting fires and leaving large parts of the area in
ruins.

Witnesses reported that three armored vehicles were also detonated amid the
ongoing bombardment, which has intensified across several fronts of the
city.

Two of the strikes hit near the Al-Nour Center for the Blind, sending
plumes of smoke over nearby residential blocks. Continuous shelling and
bursts of gunfire from Israeli ground vehicles and aircraft echoed across
Gaza’s northern, eastern, and southern axes, trapping residents in a
tightening circle of violence.

As explosions took place through the night, large numbers of displaced
civilians were seen moving through the streets of Al-Sabra, families
carrying what little they could salvage, searching for shelter in a city
where safe spaces have all but disappeared.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, meanwhile, rejected Trump’s
proposed plan. According to a report by Axios, Netanyahu instructed his
team to adhere to their existing strategy rather than the framework
outlined by the US president.

Netanyahu was surprised by Trump’s announcement and wanted to make sure it
did not become established that Hamas had given a positive answer to
Trump’s plan, Axios reported.
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