Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, have delivered an ultimatum to Hamas, warning the militant group to accept their 20-point peace plan for Gaza or face the consequences.
The two leaders met at the White House in Washington on Monday then held a joint press briefing in which they hailed their proposal as a historic breakthrough and new chapter for the Middle East.
But it was clear that Hamas had not been consulted and its position on the terms remained uncertain. Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, said the group had not even received the plan, the Reuters news agency reported.
It was later briefed that Qatari and Egyptian mediators met with Hamas on Monday evening to provide the group with the peace plan.
Both Trump and Netanyahu made clear that they were not offering Hamas a choice in the matter. If the group refused, Trump told reporters, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.
“But I hope that we’re going to have a deal for peace, and if Hamas rejects the deal … Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you would have to do.”
The Israeli prime minister said ominously: “If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accept it and then do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done.”
Netanyahu added: “We’d 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 and threaten us again and again and again with these horrific massacres.”
Neither man took questions from reporters. Earlier the White House released the 20-point plan aimed at ending the war in the Palestinian territory that erupted after the deadly attack on 7 October 2023.
It calls for a ceasefire, a swap of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory, Hamas disarmament and a transitional government led by an international body.
Trump said: “If accepted by Hamas, this proposal calls for the release of all remaining hostages immediately, but in no case more than 72 hours … The hostages are coming back.”
The plan also demands that Hamas lay down its arms and renounce governance in the strip. Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence would be given amnesty to remain in Gaza or they would be granted safe passage to receiving countries.
Trump’s plan would also establish a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump himself and include Tony Blair, the former British prime minister.
Trump said: “To ensure the success of this effort, my plan calls for a new international oversight body – the Board of Peace – which will be headed, not at my request … by a gentleman known as President Donald J Trump of the United States.”
Earlier, a leaked 21-page draft document, seen by the Guardian and Haaretz in Israel, showed that a postwar Gaza governing authority would sideline key Palestinian political figures while giving significant authority to its chair on most key issues.
The president caused uproar earlier this year when he spoke of turning Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” that involved massive financial investment and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Monday’s 20-point plan does state that “a Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East”.
But it also notes: “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.”
At the joint press briefing in the state dining room, against a backdrop of US and Israel flags, Trump said they were “beyond very close” to forging the elusive peace deal and that he hoped Hamas militants would also accept it.
“We’re not quite finished. We have to get Hamas, but I think they’re going to be able to do that. So now it’s time for Hamas to accept the terms of the plan that we’ve put forward today.”
Trump added: “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.”
In Netanyahu’s fourth visit to the White House since Trump returned to office in January, the rightwing Israeli leader was looking to shore up his country’s most important relationship after a slew of western leaders formally embraced Palestinian statehood last week in defiance of the US and Israel.
Trump, who sharply criticised the recognition moves as a prize for Hamas, was seeking Netanyahu’s agreement despite Israel’s misgivings on parts of the plan.
Washington presented its peace plan to Arab and Muslim states on the sidelines of the UN general assembly last week, and Trump’s main objective on Monday was to try to close the remaining gaps with Netanyahu. He appeared to have succeeded.
Netanyahu, who has an international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrant against him for alleged crimes including starvation as a method of warfare, used the White House platform to lavish praise on Trump and list his demands.
“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims,” he said. “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 added: “Hamas will be disarmed. Gaza will be demilitarized. Israel will retain security responsibility, including a security perimeter, for the foreseeable future. And lastly, Gaza will have a peaceful, civilian administration that is run neither by Hamas nor by the Palestinian Authority.”
But Hamas’s apparent absence from the negotiations has raised questions about the prospects for the latest initiative.
In a statement late on Monday, Blair said: “President Trump has put down a bold and intelligent plan which, if agreed, can end the war, bring immediate relief to Gaza, the chance of a brighter and better future for its people, while ensuring Israel’s absolute and enduring security and the release of all hostages.
“It offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering, and I thank President Trump for his leadership, determination and commitment.”
Netanyahu earlier extended a formal apology to his Qatari counterpart for a recent military strike targeting Hamas officials in the Gulf emirate that infuriated Arab leaders and triggered rare criticism by the US of Israel.
Netanyahu made the call to Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, as he met with Trump, according to the White House.
Trump described the exchange between the Israeli and Qatari leader as a “heart-to-heart” call.
“As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” the White House said in a statement. “He further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.”
Netanyahu added to reporters: “Israel was targeting terrorists, it wasn’t targeting Qatar, and of course we regretted the loss of the Qatari citizen who wasn’t our target.”
Late on Monday the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt welcomed Trump’s announcement in a joint statement.
The proposal was also welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which said it supported Trump’s “determined efforts” to end the war.
But the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group chief, Ziad al-Nakhala, said he considered the plan a “recipe to blow up the region”. The group, which also has taken hostages, is an Iran-backed ally of Hamas.
Previous US-backed ceasefire efforts have fallen apart due to a failure to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas, and Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is completely dismantled.
The White House talks came as Israeli tanks on Monday thrust deeper into the heart of Gaza City. Israel has 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 Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, mostly civilians, and injured more than 160,000 since 7 October 2023.
Source link
-
-
-
-
-
