Trump secures Netanyahu's agreement to Gaza peace proposal, but doubts remain

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump secured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's backing on Monday (Sep 29) for a US-sponsored peace proposal to end a nearly two-year-old war in Gaza, but questions loomed over whether Hamas would accept the plan. 

Speaking at a joint White House press conference, Trump said they were "beyond very close" to an elusive peace deal for the Palestinian enclave, but warned the militant group Hamas that Israel would have full US support to take whatever action it deemed necessary if the militants reject what he has offered.

The White House released a 20-point document that called for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas disarmament and a transitional government led by an international body.

Trump thanked Netanyahu "for agreeing to the plan and for trusting that if we work together, we can bring an end to the death and destruction that we've seen for so many years, decades, even centuries".

NETANYAHU SAYS PLAN MEETS ISRAEL'S WAR AIMS

Standing next to Trump, Netanyahu responded: "I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims.

"It will bring back to Israel all our hostages, dismantle Hamas' military capabilities, end its political rule, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel," he said. 

It was clear, however, that Hamas remained the key to whether Trump's peace proposals get off the ground. The group's absence from negotiations and its previous repeated refusals to disarm raised doubts about the plan's viability.

Hamas, which triggered the war with its Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel, still holds 48 hostages, 20 of them still alive, Israel says.

“Hamas hasn’t yet received the plan officially, nothing beyond media publication," a Hamas official told Reuters.

But an official briefed on the talks later said Qatar and Egypt shared the document with Hamas, which told mediators they will review it "in good faith" and then respond. 

In Netanyahu’s fourth White House visit since Trump returned to office in January, the right-wing Israeli leader was looking to bolster his country’s most important relationship after a slew of Western leaders formally embraced Palestinian statehood at the United Nations last week in defiance of the US and Israel. 

Trump, who sharply criticised the recognition of statehood as a prize for Hamas, went into Monday's meeting seeking to overcome Netanyahu's misgivings over parts of the plan.

It marked a stepped-up diplomatic effort from the US president, who vowed during the 2024 presidential campaign to quickly bring the conflict to a close and has since repeatedly claimed that a peace deal was near, only for it to fail to materialise. 

Washington outlined its peace plan to Arab and Muslim states on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week.

Trump presented his set of proposals in effusive terms on Monday but ended what was billed as a press conference without taking questions. 

He has previously hailed international deals that delivered less than promised. He headed into an August summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin seeking a ceasefire in the Ukraine war and emerged with no such deal. Nonetheless, he called the meeting "a 10" on a scale of one to 10.

Netanyahu, while praising Trump as a friend of Israel, put some distance between himself and some items in Trump's plan, including the reforms being demanded of the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority and the prospects for eventual Palestinian statehood.

It was not immediately clear whether the Trump administration and Israel had resolved all their differences.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from the hostages’ families and, according to public opinion polls, a war-weary Israeli public. But he also risks the collapse of his governing coalition if far-right ministers believe he has made too many concessions for a peace deal. 

Steven Cook, a senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, said an end to the war may be closer but cautioned that further work was needed. "The Qataris now must put the screws to Hamas and Netanyahu needs to sell to his security cabinet," he said. 

Hamas-led fighters killed around 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies. 

More than 66,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's assault, according to Gaza health authorities.

ISRAELI ASSAULT HAS LEFT MUCH OF GAZA IN RUINS 

Israel launched one of its biggest offensives of the war this month, with Netanyahu saying he aims to wipe out Hamas in its final redoubts. The war has left much of Gaza in ruins and caused a major humanitarian crisis.

The US plan, crafted by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's first-term Middle East adviser, Jared Kushner, envisions a ceasefire followed by the release within 72 hours of all remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

It outlines a vague path toward Palestinian statehood once Gaza's redevelopment is well underway and the Palestinian Authority undertakes reforms, but does not provide details.

The question of eventual Palestinian statehood, which Netanyahu has vowed never to let happen, was among the main sticking points to Netanyahu's acceptance of Trump's initiative, according to a source close to the talks.

Under the plan, the US would work with Arab partners and other international parties to develop a temporary stabilisation force to oversee security.

Gaza would be governed without Hamas involvement and initially only a limited role for a Palestinian Authority "representative". Netanyahu has said the PA must not control the territory.

The proposal calls for the creation of a technocratic Palestinian committee responsible temporarily for day-to-day Gaza services, overseen by an international "board of peace" chaired by Trump and including former British prime minister Tony Blair, the White House said.

TRUMP'S PROPOSAL WINS BACKING FROM OTHERS

Key Muslim nations on Monday lent their weight to backing Trump's a plan end the war in Gaza, even as some Palestinians decried the proposal as a "farce".

Washington's European allies urged Hamas to accept the plan.

Eight Arab or Muslim-majority nations in a joint statement said they "welcome the role of the American president and his sincere efforts aimed at ending the war in Gaza".

They said they "affirm their readiness to engage positively and constructively with the United States and the parties toward finalising the agreement and ensuring its implementation".

The countries include Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey - which all recognise Israel, although some have turbulent relationships.

Also signing the statement were Qatar, which has played a key mediatory role, and Saudi Arabia, whose future normalisation with Israel is a key goal for Trump and Netanyahu.

Indonesia and Pakistan, the world's two most populous Muslim-majority countries, also joined the statement.

Indonesia has offered troops as part of a future Gaza force, while Pakistan has been eager to woo Trump and improve its relationship with Washington.

Trump hailed a statement by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, posted on X even before the White House announcement, in which he voiced his "firm belief that President Trump is fully prepared to assist in whatever way necessary" to secure an end to the war.

The Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu has sought to sideline, was also quick to offer support, welcoming Trump's "sincere and determined efforts."

But Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, called the plan "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," it said.

Residents of war-torn Gaza expressed scepticism over the plan, dismissing it as a trick to release hostages that would not end the war.

"We as a people will not accept this farce," said Abu Mazen Nassar, 52.