GAZA CITY: Hamas said on Saturday it remained ready to proceed with a US-backed Gaza peace plan and urged pressure on Israel, which insists it did not agree to the latest part of the deal.

Hamas informed President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that it stood by the latest stage of the plan, under which it would hand over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing committee.

“Hamas and other factions have confirmed to mediators their readiness to begin implementing the agreement and move to the second phase, provided it receives Israeli approval and that Israel begins implementing the agreement,” a Hamas official said.

“Hamas is urging the US administration to exert pressure on Israel to compel it to abide by the agreement and move to the second phase,” the official added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election fight in October and wide opposition from his right-wing base to the Gaza deal, said on Tuesday that Israel had not agreed to the “draft” presented by the Board of Peace.

Netanyahu met this week the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, who backtracked and said Israel would withdraw only after a full disarmament by Hamas. Israel’s military also vowed to keep hitting Hamas.

But Israeli operations in Gaza, while ongoing, appear to have decreased in intensity in recent days. On Saturday, the Nasser hospital, in Khan Yunis, reported three people injured by Israeli gunfire.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026