WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday that he had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s backing for a wide-ranging Gaza peace plan that would bring an immediate ceasefire.
The plan, which Trump has circulated to Arab leaders, was released after Trump met Netanyahu in Washington.
Trump told a press conference that Netanyahu had agreed to the plan, which calls for an immediate ceasefire, followed by disarmament of Hamas and Israeli withdrawal.
Hamas also has yet to give its approval but Trump said he was hopeful the militant group was in favor.
Trump said approval from all sides was “beyond very close.”
The 20 point plan states that on agreement by both sides, “the war will immediately end” with Israeli withdrawals timed to release of the last hostages held by Hamas. During that initial period, there would be a ceasefire.
Key points include deployment of a “temporary international stabilization force” and creation of a transitional authority headed by Trump.
The deal would demand Hamas militants fully disarm and be excluded from future roles in the government. However, those who agreed to “peaceful co-existence” would be given amnesty.
Following Israeli withdrawal, the borders would be opened to aid and investment.
In a crucial change from Trump’s earlier apparent goals, Palestinians will not be forced to leave and instead, the document said, “we will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.”
The US president had met key Arab leaders at the United Nations last week and said Sunday on social media that “ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER.”
Netanyahu has recently given little reason for optimism, vowing in a defiant UN speech Friday to “finish the job” against Hamas and rejecting Palestinian statehood — recently recognized by several Western nations.
Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, the US president has shown increasing signs of frustration ahead of the Israeli premier’s fourth White House visit since Trump’s return to power.
Trump was infuriated by Israel’s recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.
And he warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as some of Netanyahu’s cabinet members have urged, a move that would seriously complicate the route to Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu’s coalition government is propped up by the far-right ministers who oppose a peace deal.
- Voices from Gaza -
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes continued across the Gaza Strip, killing at least four people in Khan Yunis, according to the Hamas-run territory’s civil defense agency.
Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged Trump to uphold his Gaza proposal.
“We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the deal you have brought forth,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in an open letter to Trump.
In Gaza, people expressed a mix of hope, exhaustion and distrust ahead of the White House meeting.
“I don’t expect anything from Trump, because Trump supports Netanyahu in destroying the Gaza Strip and displacing people to carry out the Riviera project,” said Mohammed Abu Rabee, 34, referring to Trump’s earlier proposal to turn the Palestinian territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The outcome may hinge on how far Trump pushes Netanyahu, said Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
“Netanyahu has a clear preference for continuing the war and defeating Hamas, but I don’t think it’s impossible for Trump to convince him otherwise,” Sachs told AFP.
The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally from Israeli official figures.
Israel’s offensive has killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
