Hamas’ top commander in Gaza is pressuring the terror group’s negotiators to walk away from President Donald Trump’s proposed cease-fire agreement, marking the sharpest internal pushback yet against the White House’s plan to end the war.

Ezz al-Din al-Hadad — a senior operative known as the “Ghost of al-Qassam” and a key planner of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel — denounced the U.S. framework as a thinly veiled attempt to dismantle Hamas without securing any of its long-term objectives, the BBC reported.

Al-Hadad, who controls the fate of 48 hostages still held in Gaza, urged Hamas’ negotiators in Qatar to reject the deal outright and vowed to continue the fight. His defiance represents the most strident rebuke from within the group since Trump unveiled his 20-point proposal, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, the release of all hostages, the staged withdrawal of Israeli forces, the disarmament of Hamas, and the establishment of a transitional international authority to govern Gaza.

Some Hamas political leaders have signaled conditional openness to the plan if it advanced their demand for an independent Palestinian state. But their influence remains limited, as al-Hadad and Hamas’ armed wing hold the hostages — the terrorists’ most powerful bargaining chip. Of the 48 captives, only 20 are believed to still be alive.

Al-Hadad rose to Hamas’ top military post in Gaza after Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of Oct. 7, and his brother Mohammed Sinwar. His rejection of the Trump framework comes amid parallel opposition from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which also participated in the Oct. 7 attacks and dismissed the U.S. plan as serving only “Israeli interests.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has further complicated the negotiations, declaring on social media that Israeli forces will maintain a permanent security zone inside Gaza and “forcibly resist” any move toward Palestinian statehood.

Trump has given Hamas until the end of the week to respond formally to the proposal. “If they resist, it will be a very sad end,” the former president warned.

The ultimatum sets up a high-stakes confrontation: Trump seeking to broker a deal with support from Arab allies, Hamas’ military leaders signaling they would rather risk annihilation than disarm, and hostages caught at the center of a volatile standoff.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)