As the US-backed Board of Peace pushed ahead with its roadmap for postwar Gaza, Hamas asserted Saturday it remained ready to proceed with the plan and urged Washington to pressure Israel to implement it, as Israeli officials warned that the terror organization was exploiting the process to prevent renewed military action.

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

“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 told AFP.

“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 said on condition of anonymity.

Trump last week hailed as a breakthrough that Hamas had agreed to disarmament under the plan, with the Board of Peace saying Israel would in tandem carry out a phased withdrawal from much of Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday with 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.

Israeli officials, however, have cast Hamas’s acceptance of the roadmap in starkly different terms, warning that the terror group is seeking to use the diplomatic process to buy time and prevent Israel from resuming military operations in Gaza.

Ministers and security chiefs reportedly met Thursday to discuss how Israel should respond to the plan, which Jerusalem opposes.

While the security cabinet approved having an International Stabilization Force enter Gaza to disarm Hamas and assume control of the territory, Netanyahu........

© The Times of Israel