A senior Hamas official has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to establish a transitional “Board of Peace” headed by Mr. Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to oversee Gaza’s post-war administration.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas representative who has previously participated in indirect negotiations with U.S. envoys, dismissed the plan as politically unacceptable. Speaking to Qatar’s Al Araby television network on Thursday, Hamdan said, “All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this.”
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The statement follows last week’s announcement of a historic ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered through U.S., Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish mediation. The deal is expected to end the two-year conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and devastated much of Gaza.
As part of the ceasefire, Hamas agreed to release the remaining 48 hostages in its custody within 72 hours of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pulling back to an agreed line, which will leave Israel in control of roughly 53 percent of the Gaza Strip. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be released.
While international observers have hailed the truce as a major breakthrough, controversy surrounds the next phase of Mr. Trump’s peace initiative. His 20-point plan, unveiled on September 29, calls for the creation of a transitional authority , the “Board of Peace” to govern Gaza temporarily, led jointly by himself and Sir Tony Blair.
During a live-streamed cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Trump did not respond directly to Hamas’s objections. Instead, he emphasized that disarmament would form the “second phase” of the peace plan, with Israel expected to conduct gradual troop “pullbacks.”
“There will be disarming,” Mr. Trump said. “This is about building a durable and everlasting peace.”
When asked whether the plan included a two-state solution, Mr. Trump remained non-committal, saying, “I don’t have a view. I’m going to go with what they agreed to.”
Later, during a bilateral meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, he added that discussions about Palestinian statehood would take place “in time,” suggesting that future arrangements “may be very positive for everybody.”
Meanwhile, Khalil al-Hayya, an exiled Hamas leader, confirmed that the group had received guarantees from the U.S., Arab mediators, and Turkey that the war “had ended for good.”
However, Hamas’s outright rejection of any foreign-led transitional administration underscores the fragile and complex path toward lasting peace in Gaza — even after the guns fall silent.
