President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to his administration’s proposed plan to bring an end to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and develop a “credible pathway” to a Palestinian state and a “peaceful and prosperous co-existence” in the Middle East.
Following Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, Trump held a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister, telling reporters, “Today is a historic day for peace, and Prime Minister Netanyahu and I have just concluded an important meeting on many vital issues, including Iran, trade, expansion of the Abraham Accords, and, most importantly, we discussed how to end the war in Gaza.”
“It’s just a part of the bigger picture, which is peace in the Middle East,” Trump added. “And let’s call it eternal peace in the Middle East.”
Trump thanked Netanyahu for agreeing to his plan for peace in the Middle East and suggested that the plan could “bring an end to the death and destruction that we’ve seen for so many years.”
The Trump administration’s peace plan was shared Monday afternoon on X, formerly Twitter. The 20-point framework aims to “immediately end” the war in Gaza, facilitate the return of the remaining Israeli hostages, provide aid to the Gaza Strip, establish a new government in Gaza, and create a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
During Monday’s press conference, Trump said multiple Arab nations have already agreed to the peace plan framework, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, and Turkey.
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“Under the plan, Arab and Muslim countries have committed … to demilitarize Gaza – and that’s quickly – decommission the military capabilities of Hamas and all other terror organizations – do that immediately – and we’re relying on the countries that I named and others to deal with Hamas,” Trump told reporters. “And I’m hearing that Hamas wants this done, too.”
Trump explained that Hamas is the only party that has not yet accepted his administration’s peace plan. The president explained that if Hamas refuses to accept the peace plan, Israel will have the “full backing” of the United States to finish its war with the terrorist organization.
“If Hamas rejects the deal, which is always possible – they’re the only one left, everyone else has accepted it – but I have a feeling we’re going to have a positive answer,” Trump told the Israeli prime minister. “But if not, you know, Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you have to do,” said Trump.
Commenting on the president’s peace plan, Netanyahu told reporters, “I believe that today, we are taking a critical step toward both ending the war in Gaza, and setting the stage for dramatically advancing peace in the Middle East.”
