Trump Details 20-Point Plan To End Gaza War After Meeting Netanyahu

The White House released a 20-point plan designed to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza following a meeting between President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

The plan stipulates that the conflict would end immediately if accepted by both Israel and Hamas, and that all hostages and the remains of those who died would be returned within 72 hours. The agreement would also see Israel release nearly 2,000 prisoners and stipulates that Israel would not occupy or annex Gaza.

The proposal encourages Gaza residents to remain in place, pledges the immediate resumption of aid, and says a “panel of experts” would be convened to “rebuild and energize” the war-torn area with economic development. 

The plan calls for Hamas to agree not to have any direct or indirect role in the governance of Gaza, instead handing control of the territory to a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services.” That body would be overseen by a “Board of Peace” to be headed and chaired by Trump, and involve the participation of other world leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The terms also reference a future where the conditions for a Palestinian state “may finally be in place” if the agreement is implemented.

It is unclear if Hamas will also sign onto those terms even as the war nears its two-year mark  The militant group which sparked the war with an Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel said ahead of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting that it had not yet seen the plan and would need to study the proposal.

Trump shared his plan with leaders from Muslim-majority countries during a meeting in New York last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and had teased the prospect of imminent progress.

“We have a real chance for greatness in the Middle East,” Trump said on social media Sunday, raising hopes for a deal and insisting that “we will get it done.”

Trump and Netanyahu entered Monday’s meeting, their fourth this year, at a crossroads with Israel increasingly isolated on the the international stage and intensifying pressure from the US president for a ceasefire.

The path to the agreement was also eased by a phone call — set up by Trump — earlier Monday where Netanyahu expressed regret to Qatar’s prime minister for a strike on Doha aimed at killing senior Hamas leaders. Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, and the host of the largest US military base in the region was outraged by the strike, as were other Arab states.

Netanyahu expressed regret that the strike accidentally killed a Qatari serviceman on the call, according to a White House readout.