Accepting the plan is a disaster, rejecting it is another
As a deadline imposed by Washington pressed forward, Hamas found itself weighing a proposal that asked it to surrender nearly everything it has fought for, while the ground beneath its feet continued to be reshaped by Israeli bombs and military orders. The plan, endorsed by Netanyahu and backed by much of the international community, offered Hamas disarmament, displacement from governance, and a vague promise of eventual Israeli withdrawal — terms that smaller Palestinian factions rejected without hesitation. In the long arc of this conflict, the moment captures a recurring human tragedy: the choice between an unacceptable peace and an unending war, made harder still by the fact that both paths lead through suffering.
- Trump's 3-4 day ultimatum forced Hamas into an agonizing internal reckoning — accept terms that strip it of weapons, hostages, and governance, or refuse and face the consequences of continued war.
- While diplomats waited for an answer, Israeli warplanes and tanks struck residential neighborhoods across Gaza City, killing at least 17 people in a single day, including seven in one strike on the old city.
- Israel simultaneously sealed the coastal road northward, trapping those remaining in Gaza City and blocking hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians from ever returning home.
- Three smaller Palestinian factions, including two allied with Hamas, rejected the Trump plan outright, arguing it would legitimize Israeli control and hollow out the Palestinian cause.
- Hamas's own deliberations reflected a grim arithmetic: a Palestinian official close to the talks admitted that accepting felt like disaster, but rejecting offered no clearer path forward.
On Wednesday, Hamas entered its third day of internal deliberations over a Gaza proposal unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had given the group three to four days to respond. The plan demanded the release of remaining hostages, full disarmament, and Hamas's permanent exit from any governing role in Gaza. In return, it offered little — no firm timeline for Palestinian statehood, and only a vague commitment that Israel would eventually withdraw. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had already endorsed it.
A Palestinian official close to the discussions described the situation with blunt resignation: accepting the plan felt like catastrophe, but rejecting it offered no better horizon. He said Hamas remained committed to ending the war and what Palestinians describe as genocide, and would respond according to Palestinian interests — though he would not say what that response would be. Three smaller militant factions, including two allied with Hamas, did not wait. They rejected the proposal outright, calling it a gift of international legitimacy to Israeli control over Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel did not pause its military campaign. Strikes on residential neighborhoods across Gaza City killed at least 17 Palestinians on Wednesday alone — seven in a single bombing in the old city, six more in a school where people had taken shelter. The military also announced that the coastal road connecting south to north would now be closed to northward movement, open only for those fleeing south. The order would trap those still in Gaza City and prevent the hundreds of thousands already displaced from returning home, while also threatening to cut off goods moving north and worsen food shortages.
Israel had imposed similar north-south separations early in the war before easing them during a January ceasefire. Their return suggested a hardening of military strategy and deepened Palestinian fears that displacement, once described as temporary, was becoming permanent. The convergence of a ticking diplomatic deadline and an intensifying ground campaign placed Hamas in a position familiar to this conflict but newly acute: forced to choose its future while the territory it might govern continued to shrink.
Hamas spent Wednesday in its third day of deliberations over a Gaza proposal that U.S. President Donald Trump had unveiled earlier in the week, according to a source close to the militant group. Trump had given the organization between three and four days to respond. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already endorsed the plan as a path to end the nearly two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The proposal itself demanded that Hamas release the remaining hostages it holds, surrender its weapons, and accept having no role in governing Gaza going forward. It offered Israel few immediate concessions and contained no clear timeline for Palestinian statehood—a demand that Hamas, along with much of the Arab and Muslim world, has long considered non-negotiable. The plan did state that Israel would eventually withdraw from Gaza, but offered no specifics on when that withdrawal might occur. A Palestinian official involved in Hamas's internal discussions with other factions described the situation with blunt resignation: accepting the plan felt like disaster, but rejecting it offered no better path. He noted that Hamas remained committed to ending both the war and what Palestinians describe as genocide, and would respond according to what it believed served Palestinian interests, though he declined to say what that response might be.
Other Palestinian factions moved faster toward a decision. Three smaller militant groups in Gaza, including two allied with Hamas, rejected the proposal outright. They argued it would undermine the Palestinian cause and effectively grant Israel international legitimacy for controlling Gaza. Many world leaders, by contrast, had publicly backed Trump's approach.
While Hamas deliberated, the Israeli military did not pause. Throughout Wednesday night, planes and tanks struck residential neighborhoods across Gaza City. Health authorities reported at least seventeen Palestinians killed that day, the majority in Gaza City itself. One strike on the old city in the northwestern part of the city killed seven people. In another part of the city, six people sheltering in a school were killed in a separate bombing.
The military also announced a new restriction on movement. Starting Wednesday, Israel would no longer permit civilians to use a coastal road to travel northward from the south. The road would remain open only for those fleeing in the opposite direction—toward the south. In recent weeks, few people had attempted to move north anyway, as Israel had tightened its siege on Gaza City. But the new order would trap those still in the city and prevent hundreds of thousands of residents who had already fled south from returning home. The decision also threatened to cut off the flow of goods that merchants had been moving from south to north, likely worsening food shortages in the northern part of the territory.
Israel had imposed similar total separations between north and south in the early stages of the war, before easing those restrictions in January during a temporary ceasefire. The return to such measures suggested a shift in military strategy and deepened fears among Palestinians that displacement, once temporary, might become permanent.
The timing created a stark contrast: as Trump's deadline ticked forward and Hamas weighed a proposal that offered little room for its own demands, Israel was simultaneously making the choice to stay and fight harder. The plan itself contained elements that had appeared in previous ceasefire proposals, some of which both sides had accepted and then rejected at various stages. What made this moment different was the pressure from Washington, the backing from Netanyahu, and the fact that Hamas faced the choice not in isolation but while under intensifying bombardment and watching the territory it might govern shrink further with each passing day.
Notable Quotes
Accepting the plan is a disaster, rejecting it is another, there are only bitter choices here, but the plan is a Netanyahu plan articulated by Trump— Palestinian official familiar with Hamas deliberations
Hamas is keen to end the war and end the genocide and it will respond in the way that serves the higher interests of the Palestinian people— Palestinian official
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What exactly is Trump asking Hamas to do here?
Surrender everything. Release the hostages, give up weapons, accept no role in running Gaza afterward. It's a complete capitulation dressed as a peace plan.
And Hamas is actually considering it?
They're deliberating, which is different from accepting. A Palestinian official told Reuters that both accepting and rejecting feel like disaster. They're trapped between two bad choices.
Why would they even consider something so one-sided?
Because the war has been grinding for nearly two years. The human cost is enormous. There's a logic to ending it, even on terrible terms, if the alternative is more of what's happening now.
What's happening now?
While they're thinking about Trump's plan, Israel is bombing Gaza City harder than before. Seventeen people killed on Wednesday alone. And Israel just announced it's sealing off the north—no one can go back home from the south anymore.
So Israel is negotiating and bombing at the same time?
Yes. It's a negotiating tactic, or it's a sign that Israel doesn't actually expect Hamas to accept and is preparing for a longer conflict. Either way, it sends a message about what Israel thinks the outcome will be.
Do other Palestinian groups agree with Hamas on this?
No. Smaller factions rejected it immediately. They see it as destroying the Palestinian cause. But they're not the ones holding hostages or commanding the military resources Hamas does.