JERUSALEM: Residents of Gaza Strip expressed scepticism over the peace plan unveiled on Monday by US President Donald Trump, dismissing it as a “farce”.

“It’s clear that this plan is unrealistic,” 39-year-old Ibrahim Joudeh said from his shelter in Al Mawasi, south Gaza.

“It’s drafted with conditions that the US and Israel know Hamas will never accept. For us, that means the war and the suffering will continue,” said the computer programmer, originally from the southern city of Rafah, devastated by Israeli bombardment that began in May.

They spoke shortly after President Trump unveiled his 20-point plan aimed at ending the conflict and to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his backing after the two held talks at the White House.

The plan stipulates that Hamas and other factions would not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form.

Abu Mazen Nassar, 52, was equally pessimistic, and feared that the plan aimed to trick Palestinian factions into releasing Israeli prisoners held in Gaza and no peace in return.

“This is all manipulation. What does it mean to hand over all the prisoners without official guarantees to end the war?”, Nassar, displaced from his home in Deir el Balah.

“We as a people will not accept this farce,” he said, adding that “whatever Hamas decides now about the deal, it’s too late”.

“Hamas has lost us and drowned us in the flood it created.”

Lingering hope, lost faith

Some, like Anas Sorour, a 31-year-old street vendor from Khan Yunis also displaced to Al Mawasi, dared to hope.

“Despite everything we’ve lived through and lost in this war... I still have hope,” Sorour said.

“No war lasts forever. This time I am very optimistic, and God willing it will be a moment of joy that makes us forget our pain and our anguish,” he added.

But others like 29-year-old homemaker Najwa Muslim, can no longer imagine anything changing.

“I haven’t only lost faith in the deal; I’ve lost faith in life,” Muslim said from central Gaza, where she sought refuge after being displaced from Gaza City.

“If there was a real intention to stop the war, they wouldn’t have waited this long. That’s why I don’t believe any of their words.”

After almost two years of bombing and countless attempts at ceasefire deals for Gaza, every new announcement is met with suspicion, even when Trump publicly presented a deal alongside a cautious Netanyahu in an unprecedented move.

Mohammed al Beltaji, a 47-year-old from Gaza City, summarised his view of negotiations. “As always, Israel agrees then Hamas refuses _ or the other way around. It’s all a game, and we, the people, are the ones paying the price.” ­

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2025