New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts in Gaza as “decisive progress”, hours after Hamas accepted major parts of Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
“We welcome President Trump’s leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward. India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
“India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace,” he added.
Earlier this week too, PM Modi had expressed support for Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying it would provide “a viable pathway to long-term and sustainable peace, security, and development for the Palestinian and Israeli people, as also for the larger West Asian region”.
The PM’s endorsement was later shared by Trump on his Truth Social platform.
On Friday night, after an ultimatum from Trump, Hamas accepted parts of his Gaza peace plan, including the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in a bid to end the war. Trump had told Hamas to agree to his peace plan by Sunday, 6 pm (US time) or face “all hell”.
While Israel is reportedly preparing to kick off the first stage of Trump’s plans, Hamas in its statement said it was ready “to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support”.
After the Hamas acceptance, Trump said Israel must “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza”.
“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on the details. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought peace in the Middle East,” he wrote on Truth Social.
He also posted a video message thanking all the countries that helped broker “peace” in the Middle East.
“I want to thank the countries for helping me put this together—Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and so many others. So many people fought so hard. This is a big day. We’ll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down and concrete. Very importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home to their parents. Some of the hostages – unfortunately, you know the condition they’re in—come home likewise to their parents because their parents wanted them just as much as though that young man or young woman were alive,” he said.
Describing it as a special day, Trump said, “It is unprecedented. But thank you all and the countries that helped. We were given a tremendous amount of help. Everybody was unified in wanting this war to end and seeing peace in the Middle East. We are very close to achieving that. Thank you all, and everybody will be treated fairly.”
Hamas has agreed to release all remaining Israeli hostages but has indicated it wants further negotiations on certain parts of the US peace plan.
In a statement, Hamas said, it would “release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal”, if the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.
The BBC quoted Tahir al-Nounou, media adviser to the head of Hamas’s political bureau as saying: “President Trump’s statements are encouraging, and the movement is ready to begin negotiations immediately to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war, and secure the withdrawal of the occupation.”
The statement makes no mention of one of the key demands of the plan—that Hamas agree to giving up arms and completely stepping away from governance of Gaza.
The peace plan proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release—within 72 hours—of 20 living Israeli hostages, as well as the remains of hostages believed to be dead, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans. There are thought to be 48 hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory by the armed group.
Significantly, after Trump and Netanyahu announced the plan together on Monday, Netanyahu had reinstated his long-standing opposition to a Palestinian state, saying in a video statement soon after the announcement: “It’s not written in the agreement. We said we would strongly oppose a Palestinian state.”
The Israeli military launched an attack on Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
At least 66,288 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: 6 reasons Trump’s Gaza plan won’t work—even if Hamas accepts it