Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss the future of Gaza. Following the bilateral meeting, the president unveiled what he described as a "comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict" between Israel and Hamas.
The 20-point plan calls for an immediate end to the war, the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an "agreed upon line," and the demilitarization of Gaza — which includes Hamas giving up all of its weapons.
President Trump's plan also calls for Israel to release more than 1,700 Gazans imprisoned in Israel, and for Gaza to be governed under a "temporary transitional governance" — which will be supervised by a so-called "Board of Peace," headed and chaired by President Trump.
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"Working with the World Bank and others, it will be responsible for recruiting and training a new government that will be made up of Palestinians, along with highly-qualified experts from all around the world," President Trump said at a joint press conference with Netanyahu. "Hamas and other terrorist actions will play no role in the board — they'll play no role in the governance of Gaza."
Netanyahu praised the president's proposal and thanked him for working to bring and end to the conflict.
"I believe that today we're taking a critical step towards both ending the war in Gaza and setting the stage for dramatically advancing peace in the Middle East — and I think beyond the Middle East in very important Muslim countries," Netanyahu said. "I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims. It will bring back to Israel all of our hostages, dismantle Hamas' military capabilities and its political rule, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel."
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Prior to Monday's announcement, however, a top official from Hamas claimed to have not seen such a proposal and said the group was not included in any negotiations. President Trump said he's confident Hamas will accept his proposal, but warned that if it's rejected then Israel would have his "full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas."
"We're not quite finished," President Trump said. "We have to get Hamas but I think they're going to be able to do this. So now it's time for Hamas to accept the terms of the plan that we've put forward today."
