White House Expects Hamas to Accept Plan But Ask for Clarifications: Signals of Acceptance Amid Pressure from Arab States

Oct. 2—As the Jewish High Holy Day Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, drew to a close, sources close to the White House said that intelligence they had from several sources, including Arab mediators, leads them to believe that Hamas is going to accept the principles of the 20-point peace plan for Gaza released Monday. These sources say that Hamas realizes that they cannot afford to reject the plan, because it would put the continuation of the slaughter unleashed by the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, squarely on the terrorist organization.

But Hamas cannot get its entire organization to accept the plan unless it asks for clarification of its terms and some clearer language that commits the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw from Gaza according to a reasonable timetable; nor can Hamas, an organization of fighters, agree to give up its arms and accept either amnesty and peaceful co-existence in Gaza or exile without the IDF withdrawal taking place and Israel turning over governance of Gaza to a Palestinian entity, as the Trump plan specifies, without a timetable.

Arab and Muslim States Urge Hamas to Accept

"Hamas," said one source, "is getting pounded by Arab and Muslim states, who support the Trump plan, who are telling them this is the best deal that can be made now, and they must accept it. They can point to the prisoner release and mass release of detainees as victories. 

"They must understand that Bibi does not want to stop the fighting and wants to kill as many Palestinians as he can, and will do so, unless Trump stops him with this plan. That is also a victory. And while the statement is vague on its timing, it does talk about moving towards statehood, as the 'aspiration of the Palestinian people.' That is a big victory, in that neither Bibi nor Trump supported this, and until recently, nor did Hamas. Another key point won for the Palestinians by Trump is that Israel will be barred from annexations or placing settlements in Gaza and barred from annexing the West Bank."

Envoy Efforts and Public Sentiment in Gaza

The White House sources say that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is confident that these problems with language, timing, and required further assurances that Trump will not let Bibi backtrack and restart the war after Hamas disarms can be worked out to the satisfaction of the Hamas negotiating team in Doha. 

Witkoff has sent people into Gaza to get some kind of opinion on the plan from the population. What has come back is an overwhelming sense of support for ending the war, releasing the hostages, and a search for a better future. People recognize that there are shortcomings in the plan, but they want an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of the IDF. They don't really care about Hamas, and they don't see its leaders as representing them. They did not support the attack and massacre of Oct. 7, 2023 precisely because they feared such actions would bring the response that it has from the insane and murderous Israeli leadership. 

The Gazans see themselves as victims of an illegal occupation, which has turned over their lives to Hamas—it was the Israelis, with money and even weapons, that had put Hamas in power in Gaza, as a block on the Palestinian Authority and moves towards a two-state solution.

Voices from Gaza: Desperation and Disillusionment

“Hamas must say yes to this offer — we have been through hell already,” Mahmoud Bolbol, 43, a construction worker who has remained in Gaza City with his six children in the battered shell of their home throughout the war, told the New York Times.

"For the past two days, Mr. Bolbol said his neighbors have talked about almost nothing but the cease-fire proposal. If Hamas rejects it, he said, his family would finally leave Gaza City and head for what he hoped would be the relative safety of the enclave’s south.

“Hamas needs to understand: Enough is enough,” Mr. Bolbol said. Most Gazans are not members of the group, he added, “so why drag us into this?”

Reflecting on the interviews in Gaza conducted over the last two days, the Times wrote: "Some people said the terms of the proposal made them doubt that Hamas would agree. Others said their doubts grew from something more basic and bitter: They simply did not believe that Hamas would put the interests of the Palestinian people above the interests of the organization.

"'We are dying for nothing, and no one cares about us,' said Nasayem Muqat, 30, who fled Israel’s expanding military campaign in Gaza City for the territory’s south on Monday with her young daughter, Selene. 'Hamas needs to think more of us and what we have been through.'

"Abdelhalim Awad, 57, who manages a bakery in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, said he would accept almost 'any price' to end the war. But he said he did not believe that Hamas could say the same thing.

"'They don’t care about what people think or public opinion,' Mr. Awad said. 'If they cared about that, we wouldn’t be in this situation.'

"In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Mattar, 35, said he hoped the United States could somehow force Hamas to accept the deal and then make both the armed group and Israel abide by all its terms.

"'My wish is that Trump forces it as a reality on both sides, directly, without giving a choice,' said Mr. Abu Mattar, who was once an accountant in Gaza City....

"He said he was disgusted with the negotiators in faraway conference rooms who seem to control his family’s fate.

"'The ones negotiating on my behalf are sitting in air-conditioned rooms,' he said. 'They are not the ones living in sand, walking half an hour to fetch water or searching for a bag of flour and getting killed.'"

Strategic Calculations and Netanyahu’s Position

The White House sources say that they realize that Hamas does not represent the Palestinians in Gaza, but that Hamas must agree to this deal if there is going to be peace. 

For nearly two decades, Hamas has served as Bibi's foil, to be manipulated and used. And sources in Israel, with contacts in the government and intelligence services, say that they believed that Bibi, with foreknowledge of Hamas plans for its rampage on Oct. 7, 2023—the plans for which were in possession of Israeli intelligence and the IDF nearly a year in advance of the attack—allowed the attack to occur so he could initiate his "final solution" for the Palestinian question. Hamas should realize that they have been played to terrible result for the Palestinian people and understand that this new plan is in fact a way to deliver a blow to the monster who has been using them. Netanyahu has blocked all efforts to set up an official government commission of inquiry om Oct. 7.

If the plan is accepted and worked on, it will likely mean the political end for Bibi, and that would be a great thing for the entire region, especially Israel. Regardless, he will not politically outlive the terms and implementation of this agreement, and when he goes, the Kahanist flotsam and jetsam which have kept his coalition in office will go with him, to the political oblivion they deserve.

Hostage Arrangements and Risks of Sabotage

Meanwhile, sources report that Hamas leadership must find all the hostages that are alive; there are several reports that they have lost communication with people that are holding them. The arrangements to get all of them are being done now, which is also an indication that Hamas knows where this is all going. At least one source reports that Hamas has indicated a willingness to turn the hostages first over to a representative of Trump, such as Steve Witkoff, rather than to the Israelis or the Red Crescent.

And although Trump forced Bibi to sign on to the deal with some changes, the White House knows he does not really accept it, and he wants the fighting to continue. And so, Trump is prepared for his sabotage efforts:

The respected analyst Amos Harel wrote Oct. 1 in Haaretz: "In the days ahead, Netanyahu will likely attempt to launch a protracted negotiation with the administration regarding the terms of the agreement, its final language, and the implementation timeline. The fact that the drafters of the plan didn't set a binding timetable for the IDF's withdrawal could complicate things down the line. At the same time, Netanyahu will leverage objections from the messianic right-wing parties in his coalition and scatter hints and declarations aimed at stressing Hamas and making the organization's leaders believe that Israel will violate the agreement when the opportunity arises. Israel already violated the previous agreement when it resumed the war last March. Since then, Trump has not lived up to his commitment to impose an agreement after Hamas released U.S.-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander."

One thing that Bibi is doing is pressing the IDF to go ahead with its attack on Gaza City. Haaretz’s Yaniv Kubovich reports that "Israel Defense Forces commanders say they fear that an extraordinary incident in the fighting in the Gaza Strip could cause the collapse of negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the new Trump proposal to end the war and bring home the hostages. They said they fear that an attack that results in a large number of civilian deaths or, alternatively, a Hamas operation that led to Israeli troop deaths, could result in renewed escalation and hinder the talks… 

"The IDF brass is having a hard time hiding its desire to reach a deal and end the war in Gaza. Commanders in the field are having a hard time providing answers to the tens of thousands of reservists who have been called up in recent months for another round of combat. Therefore, the IDF wants to release as many reservists as possible the moment political leaders announce that the talks are progressing and that the fighting can be brought to a halt."

Trump had said Sept. 30 that he was giving Hamas "3 or four days" to respond to his peace plan, but sources close to him say that he expects to have that response by the weekend.