President Donald Trump says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the latest U.S.-backed “peace plan,” which is ostensibly aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
Trump made the announcement during a joint press conference with Netanyahu, which followed a White House meeting between the two leaders. It’s Netanyahu’s fourth trip to Washington since Trump began his term in January.
During the meeting, Trump facilitated an Oval Office phone call between Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, in which the Israeli leader apologized for the September 9 attack on Doha.
Netanyahu expressed regret about the strikes and, specifically, “that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty,” according to a White House readout of the phone call.
Despite being touted as a diplomatic breakthrough, the 20-point plan recycles a number of previous White House declarations.
The plan would include a prisoner swap, complete Hamas disarmament, and the formulation of a transitional government led by an international body. Additionaly, it requires Gaza to become “deradicalized terror-free zone.”
Trump would chair a “board of peace” to reconstruct the Gaza Strip as part of the program, while Jordan and Egypt would train new Palestinian security forces.
Trump told reporters that it was an “extremely fair” proposal and claimed that Hamas “wants to get this done too,” despite reports that Hamas has yet to receive the plan.
“I also want to thank Prime Minister 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 and begin a new chapter of security, peace and prosperity for the entire region,” said Trump.
If Hamas rejects the deal, Trump said Israel “would have my full backing to finish the job” of destroying the group. Netanyahu said Hamas could choose the “easy way or hard way” going forward.
“Everyone understands that the ultimate result must be the elimination of any danger posed in the region, and that danger is caused by Hamas,” explained Trump.
Neither leader took questions after the press conference.
Shortly before the meeting, Axios published a report by Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid, which claimed Trump is “willing to break with him over Gaza for the first time since returning to office.” It quoted an anonymous Trump official who insisted that “everyone — and I mean everyone — is exasperated with Bibi.”
Despite such assertions, the Trump administration has continued to support the assault on Gaza without conditions of any kind.
Earlier this month, in a 72-page report, the UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and called for an arms embargo on the country.
“What does this mean for the international community?,” wrote UN human rights chief and commission member Navi Pillay after the report was released. “It means its obligations are not optional. Every state has an obligation to prevent genocide wherever it occurs,” she continued. “That obligation requires action: halting the transfer of weapons and military support used in genocidal acts, ensuring unimpeded humanitarian assistance, stopping the mass displacement and destruction, and using all available diplomatic and legal means to stop the killing. To do nothing is not neutrality. It is complicity.”
As usual, no Palestinian had a role to play in this peace plan. It has always been the case that Israel, with US complicity, gets to control and set the final conditions for every potential peace deal with the Palestinians. The Palestinians are treated as if they are small children and apartheid Israel is the adult. Somehow the Palestinians are not allowed to have a say in their rights to their land and their well-being.
The “plan” is a ruse. It is genocide by another name. If accepted by Hamas, Israel will find ways—as its done with Oslo and every ceasefire agreement—to renege on its commitments. If rejected, the racist mantra of Palestinians never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity will be invoked. “We offered them peace and they chose terror” even though Israel by every metric is the number 1 terrorist entity in the world, assassinating people everywhere, blowing up pagers that kill and maim children and prevent the entry of aid to civilians. Oh, and the small matter of genocide that is almost complete.
That the liar and war criminal responsible for the death of a million Iraqis, Tony Bliar, is involved is all you need to know about the credibility of the plan. Like Oslo, Palestinian statehood is conditioned in so many ways that it will never happen.
The objective here is to get the resistance to disarm and surrender. You think Bibi is actually going to work for the establishment of a Palestinian state after that? The Israelis have had decades to come to a just arrangement in Palestine and to end the occupation. You think Bibi is going to give up on 100 years of Zionist theory and practice now and divide Palestine? Really? You think Trump is going to force the Israelis to fulfill their half of the deal? Do you actually think the USA is in charge of its Middle East “policy”? Gaza has been completely and utterly destroyed. Sometimes it’s better to die on your feet rather than crawling on your knees to kiss the feet of the conqueror..
The plan is absurd and, with Netanyahu’s immediate response that there will be no Palestinian state, is already waste paper.
Trump is making a bid for his legacy. Netanyahu put Trump on notice he may “go it alone”.