WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a 20-point plan that he said, if implemented, will end Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip and lead to the release of all hostages who are being held there.
"This afternoon, after extensive consultation with our friends and partners throughout the region, I'm formally releasing our principles for peace, which people have really liked, I must say," Trump told reporters at the White House during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump said Hamas remains the only party which has not accepted his proposal yet, though it is unclear if the Palestinian group received it before it was officially published by the White House shortly before the press conference.
"Everyone else has accepted it, but I have a feeling that we're going to have a positive answer. But if not, as you know Bibi, you'd have our full backing to do what you would have to do," he said, referring to Netanyahu by a nickname. "Everyone understands that the ultimate result must be the elimination of any danger posed in the region, and that danger is caused by Hamas."
Israel has carried out its nearly two-year campaign on Gaza with unwavering diplomatic and military support from the Biden and Trump administrations. That has included the unhindered provision of offensive military equipment, and six uses of the US veto to halt action at the UN Security Council to call for a ceasefire.
Over 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, as the enclave has been largely reduced to rubble leading to mass displacement, acute shortages of daily necessities including food and water, and the spread of disease.
The US president's plan envisions transforming Gaza into "a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors" while ensuring the enclave "will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough," the White House said in a statement.
Under the plan, "if both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end" with Israeli forces withdrawing to agreed positions. During this process, all military operations will be suspended, and the battle lines will be frozen until the necessary conditions for a phased withdrawal are met.
Within 72 hours of Israel's acceptance, all hostages, both living and deceased, must be returned, according to the plan's outline also shared on social media.
Following hostage releases, Israel would free 250 life-sentence prisoners and 1,700 Gazans detained after Oct. 7, 2023. For every Israeli hostage whose body is returned, Israel will return the bodies of 15 Gazans who were killed, according to the plan.
Hamas members who "commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty" and Hamas members wishing to leave Gaza will be provided with safe passage to countries that accept them.
"Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip," with distribution proceeding "without interference from the two parties through the UN and its agencies," alongside the Red Crescent and others who do not have any links neither party.
The aid will be at least at the levels consistent with the amounts specified agreement dated Jan. 19, which includes rehabilitation of infrastructure, hospitals and bakeries, and the entry of equipment necessary for debris removal and road clearance.
Trump said that under his plan a transitional interim governing body, which he called the "board of peace," will be established, with Trump himself serving as the chair. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other national leaders will also be included, the president said.
"The leaders of the Arab world and Israel and everybody involved asked me to do this. So it will be headed by a gentleman known as President Donald J. Trump of the United States," he said.
Trump said the governing body will work with the World Bank and other unspecified institutions, and will be tasked with "recruiting and training a new government that will be made up of Palestinians, along with highly qualified experts from all around the world."
"Hamas and other terrorist factions will play no role in the board, but they will play no role in the governance of Gaza at all, directly or indirectly," he said.
Trump said that during his closed-door talks with Netanyahu, the Israeli leader "was very clear about his opposition to a Palestinian state."
"Several countries have foolishly recognized the Palestinian state, as you know, some of our European friends, allies, good people, but they're really, I think, doing that because they're very tired of what's going on for so many decades," he said.
