ع
Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told AFP that mediators and the American guarantor must press Netanyahu’s government to adhere to the roadmap without obstruction driven by internal political or electoral calculations. The Hamas official’s remarks followed Netanyahu’s rejection of the US-backed proposal for the deal’s next stage. Naim framed the Israeli position as an attempt to derail progress for domestic reasons rather than substantive disagreements over the agreement’s terms.
The comments come as negotiators seek to shift the Trump administration’s 2025 peace framework into its more complex second phase. A Council on Foreign Relations guide to the plan noted that this stage focuses on establishing a transitional government in Gaza, scaling up reconstruction aid and addressing the disarmament of Hamas. Netanyahu has insisted that Hamas must first be fully disarmed and that Israel retain security control over the territory, according to the same overview.
The initial phase of the ceasefire, launched in late 2025, produced a temporary halt in fighting along with the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a surge in humanitarian supplies, a Center for Strategic and International Studies assessment found. Israeli forces partially withdrew to an agreed line during that period while maintaining a buffer zone. Differences over the sequencing of further pullbacks and postwar arrangements have since slowed momentum toward lasting stability.
Hamas has previously signaled openness to discussing formulas for freezing or storing its weapons to avoid escalations, an Associated Press report from December 2025 showed. Naim has outlined similar positions in multiple AFP interviews over recent months as the group responds to the Trump plan. The latest appeal for American intervention underscores Hamas’s view that external pressure is needed to counter what it sees as Israeli stalling tactics.
Arab and Muslim-majority states issued a joint statement endorsing the original Trump proposal in October 2025, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution backing key elements of the framework the following month. Despite that broad diplomatic support, implementation has encountered repeated hurdles tied to governance questions and mutual accusations of bad faith between the parties.
A transitional authority is foreseen under the agreement to administer Gaza once Hamas steps back from governing functions, diplomatic accounts from the period indicate. Mediators in Qatar and Egypt have continued shuttling proposals between the sides to resolve outstanding disputes. As of early August 2026, both Israeli and Hamas leaders continue to express conditional support for the overall deal while differing sharply on its practical execution.
