Trump's Gaza plan 'a formula for igniting the region', says Islamic Jihad

The Islamic Jihad terror group slams US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war, saying it would fuel further aggression against Palestinians. “It is a recipe for continued aggression against the Palestinian people. Through this, Israel is attempting — via the United States — to impose what it could not achieve through war,” the group says in a statement. “Therefore, we consider the American-Israeli declaration a formula for igniting the region.”

Residents of war-torn Gaza express skepticism over the latest peace plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump, dismissing it as a farce that fails to end the war. “It’s clear that this plan is unrealistic,” 39-year-old Ibrahim Joudeh tells a news agency from his shelter in the so-called humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi in south Gaza. “This is all manipulation. What does it mean to hand over all the prisoners without official guarantees to end the war?” says Nassar, displaced from his home in north Gaza in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. “We as a people will not accept this farce,” he says, 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.” Abu Mazen Nassar, 52, is equally pessimistic and fears that the plan aimed to trick Palestinian terror groups into releasing hostages held in Gaza, and no peace in return.

The Palestinian Authority welcomes United States President Donald Trump’s “sincere and determined efforts,” following his announcement of Washington’s plan to end the war in Gaza. The PA says in a statement that it “welcomes the sincere and determined efforts of President Donald J Trump to end the war on Gaza, and affirms its confidence in his ability to find a path toward peace.”