Hamas is unlikely to reject the US plan to end the war in Gaza, but it is expected to suggest amendments to sections that it opposes, sources close to mediators told The National on Tuesday.
Hamas is finding itself in a difficult position after several Arab countries, including Qatar and Egypt, endorsed US President Donald Trump’s plan announced at the White House on Monday.
With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already accepting the roadmap, attention has now shifted to the Palestinian militant group, which recognises that rejecting the proposal outright could carry heavier consequences than ever before.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that Hamas has three or four days to respond to his plan or face the consequences. "Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it's not, it's going to be a very sad end," he told reporters.
The sources said Hamas leaders were unhappy with the plan's provision for a surrender of its weapons, underground tunnels, and arms manufacturing centres.
Instead, Hamas wants to hand over its weapons to Arab monitors who would, in turn, store them, the sources clarified. While Hamas is prepared to allow Israel to maintain a secure border zone inside Gaza, it insists that Israel withdraws from the rest of the coastal enclave and retain no security role there.
Moreover, said the sources, Hamas wants to release the 48 hostages it is holding – only 20 of them are believed to be alive – in stages rather than within 72 hours of Israel accepting the plan, as provided for under Mr Trump's roadmap. They said Hamas has lost contact with the operatives holding the hostages because of the intensity of the Israeli army's operations in Gaza.
Hamas has also buried the deceased hostages in the tunnels, which have since been destroyed by Israeli air strikes, the sources added. Hamas needs time to locate and exhume the bodies, they explained.
Generally, said the sources, Hamas was unhappy with the lack of timelines and specifics for some of the provisions of the plan, leaving Israel with considerable leeway to delay the process or derail it altogether.
“Every provision in the plan is kind of tied to other provisions and that makes it complicated,” said one of the sources. “It's booby-trapped.”
The plan, however, has been welcomed in principle by key Arab nations, including Egypt and Qatar, which have together with the US been trying without success for months to broker a Gaza ceasefire.
The plan provides for a ceasefire, the release of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails in exchange for the 48 hostages, the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave, and an amnesty for Hamas leaders wishing to disassociate themselves from violence and leave Gaza.
Significantly, the plan does not provide for the removal of Palestinians, voluntarily or otherwise, from Gaza. It also prohibits Israel from occupying or annexing the territory.
It embraces the principle of a two-state solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but without giving a timeline for the creation of an independent Palestinian state or specifying its territory.
It also bars Israel from annexing the occupied West Bank, something that extremist members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have been clamouring for in recent months.
Disadvantageous
In its entirety, however, the plan, if implemented, signals the potential demise of Hamas as an armed movement. Hamas has repeatedly said it will not give up its arms unless a comprehensive solution is found for the conflict, but suggested it was prepared to stay away from the postwar government and reconstruction of the territory.
An official from a Palestinian faction allied with Hamas said the militant group was likely to “maintain silence for the longest possible period, then come up with a statement, possibly with the other Gaza factions, that does not reject the plan”.
The endorsement of the plan by Qatar and Egypt, the two US-allied nations with the closest links to Hamas, has left the Palestinian group little choice, he added.
The involvement of the pair, along with other countries in the region, in a stabilisation force proposed by the plan to take charge of security in Gaza, will cushion the fallout from its defeat in the war against Israel, said the official.
“Israel is supposed to withdraw from Gaza and be replaced by Arab forces. There is nothing in this that is disadvantageous to Hamas,” he added.
Cautioning that Hamas hardliners might still be wielding enough influence to persuade the group to reject the deal, the official said the majority in the group's upper echelons “know that this time they will have to accept (the US plan), given the massive humanitarian situation”.
The Gaza war was caused by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel nearly two years ago that left about 1,200 people dead. The assailants also took another 250 hostages.
Israel's response to the attack has been a relentless military campaign that has to date killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health authorities. The war also left most of Gaza reduced to rubble and created a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands facing hunger and, in some areas, outright famine.
The Israeli army's conduct in Gaza has been designated as genocide by the UN, which has led to the growing international isolation of Israel.
On Monday night, a Hamas official told The National that the group is studying the plan, but added that “there are non-negotiable principles that we cannot give up”.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari confirmed in a press conference on Tuesday that mediators from Qatar and Egypt met Hamas's negotiating team and handed over the plan. He added that there will be another meeting on Tuesday that will be attended by Turkish officials to consult on the plan.
“Hamas's negotiating team has promised to study the plan responsibly,” he added.
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
The%20specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDual%20permanently%20excited%20synchronous%20motors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E516hp%20or%20400Kw%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E858Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E485km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh699%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')
Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
My Country: A Syrian Memoir
Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
MATCH INFO
Northern Warriors 92-1 (10 ovs)
Russell 37 no, Billings 35 no
Team Abu Dhabi 93-4 (8.3 ovs)
Wright 48, Moeen 30, Green 2-22
Team Abu Dhabi win by six wickets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
