Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he has accepted President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a move that was considered a distant possibility given the Israeli military’s intensified attacks in the Palestinian enclave.
“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza,” the prime minister told Trump in a bilateral press conference, saying the proposal “achieves our war aims.”
The White House released the peace plan just minutes before the press conference, in which it said the “war will immediately end” if both Israel and Hamas agree to the proposed actions. Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza in phases to prepare for the exchange of all remaining hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, which would occur 72 hours after agreeing to the proposal.
All military operations would be suspended during the above process. Netanyahu said that his soldiers in Gaza have been “on the front line in the war between civilization and barbarism,” a dog whistle used by some Israeli officials that further dehumanizes Palestinians.
Trump said that the U.S. drafted the proposal with support and input from Arab and Muslim countries, though it’s unclear if that includes Palestinians. Qatar and Egypt have presented Trump’s plan to Hamas, which is reviewing it “in good faith,” according to The Associated Press and Al Jazeera.
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Though he believes Hamas will agree to the plan, Trump said that Israel will have full U.S. backing to “finish the job” if the group decides otherwise. Netanyahu made similar comments, warning Israel will “finish the job by itself” if Hamas rejects the proposal, or reverses course after initially agreeing to it.
Israel was notably the responsible party for breaking the temporary ceasefire in Gaza earlier this year, imposing a total blockade of aid while raining bombs on the Palestinian enclave. Netanyahu also previously rejected Hamas’ offer to return all the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire.
“This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done,” the prime minister said. “We prefer the easy way, but it has to be done. All these goals must be achieved because we didn’t fight this horrible fight, sacrifice the finest of our young men, to have Hamas stay in Gaza.”
Under the White House proposal, Hamas would no longer have any governing power. Instead, members who agree to “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty,” the plan says. Other members who want to leave will be provided safe passage.
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Going against calls made by Israel’s far-right politicians, the proposal also requires Israel to not occupy or annex Gaza. Instead, the enclave will be temporarily governed by a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” overseen by a new international body Trump calls the “Board of Peace.”
While Netanyahu praised the governing group “that is run neither by Hamas nor by the Palestinian Authority,” the proposal specifically says the board would handle funding for rebuilding Gaza “until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program.” The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority currently governs parts of the West Bank.
Journalists on the ground in Gaza are reporting that Palestinians have cautious hope for the proposal’s success, wanting an end to the intensifying hostilities that human rights groups, activists and scholars have concluded amounts to genocide. Israel has rejected those conclusions while continuing to bomb whole cities, target hospitals and press, and starve the population by blocking most aid from entering.
