Islamic Jihad comments on Trump's Gaza peace plan: A recipe for the region's explosion
The Islamic Jihad movement issued a brief statement on Monday evening commenting on US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza.
Ziad al-Nakhala, Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement, considered Trump's plan for Gaza, which was unveiled on Monday, "a recipe for continued aggression against the Palestinian people."
In a statement issued by the movement, al-Nakhala said, "What was announced at the press conference between Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is an American-Israeli agreement, an expression of Israel's position in full, and a recipe for continued aggression against the Palestinian people... a recipe for the explosion of the region."
In a related development, an official familiar with the talks told Reuters on Monday that the prime minister of Qatar and the head of Egyptian intelligence briefed Hamas on Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza.
The official added that Hamas negotiators informed the mediators that they would study the plan in good faith and provide a response.
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that they had agreed on a plan to end the war in Gaza.
Trump laid out a 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas and establish a post-war government in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave.
The Trump plan calls for the establishment of an interim governing council headed by Trump and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The plan does not require Gazans to leave the Strip and calls for an immediate end to the war if both sides agree to it.
It also calls for the release of all remaining hostages within 72 hours of Israel's acceptance of the plan.
According to Trump, Israel will have the "full support" of the United States to take steps to defeat Hamas if it does not accept the proposed peace agreement.
For his part, Netanyahu said, "If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if it claims to accept it and then does everything to undermine it, Israel will do the job itself. It can be done the easy way or the hard way, but the job will be done."
The US president called on the Palestinian people to take responsibility for their "destiny" and embrace his peace proposal.
Although Hamas had previously announced its willingness to step down from governing the Gaza Strip, it has refused to disarm, a demand Netanyahu has long insisted on as part of any long-term truce to end the war.