The second stage of President Trump’s Gaza peace plan advanced substantially Monday as Hamas released all of the 20 surviving Israeli hostages in a prisoner swap for hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners, and additional aid began to pour into the Palestinian territory after two years of war.
The steps are key elements of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and they followed a ceasefire that went into effect in Gaza and Israeli forces retreated to a pre-determined line.
World leaders, including Trump, gathered in Egypt on Monday for a summit on Gaza’s future and the region of the Middle East.
But the situation is still delicate https://govfacts.org/explainer/trumps-gaza-peace-plan-explained/
Talks on next step
Israel and Hamas do not trust one another much, and it was several failed, indirect talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar, before it reached the truce, with Egypt and Qatar serving as mediators.
The first stage of the accord required: the release of the Israeli hostages, dead or alive; the release of scores of Palestinian captives in the hands of Israel; an influx of humanitarian assistance to Gaza; and the Israelis’ partial withdrawal from the principal cities of Gaza.
Egypt’s foreign minister stated on Monday that it was important for Israel and Hamas to finally implement the first part of the agreement so that the sides could begin negotiations on the second part. As of Monday night, all surviving hostages had returned to Israel, but the bodies of most of the murdered hostages still had not left Gaza.
“We’re strongly committed to [the peace agreement],” said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani in an interview with CBS News on Monday. “The agreement clearly states 72 hours for the time IDF redeploy on the new line. That’s passed already, and not all the hostages have been returned, so we know what we’re dealing with.”
Later stages of the plan will need to grapple with tougher subjects including Gaza’s postwar administration. Israel insists on Hamas’s disarmament, which Hamas has refused. Israel refuses any steps for a Palestinian state.
Talks on those matters might collapse.
Israel threatenes to resume hostilities if its conditions are not met.
President Trump’s war-ending plan also calls for regional and international allies to assist in creating the nucleus of a new Palestinian security force.
Another huge task will be reconstruction. Egypt and the World Bank have proposed a postwar plan estimating that rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territories will require at least $53 billion.” Egypt aims to stage a future conference on reconstruction.
Will Hamas disarm?
One of the hardest issues is that Israel demands that a demilitarized Hamas totally disarm. Hamas will not do it and is demanding that Israel withdraw its soldiers entirely from Gaza.
Thus far, the Israeli army has pulled out from Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other places, but still controls around 53% of the territory, Israeli officials say. Soldiers are still holding most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north, and a broad strip along the length of Gaza’s border with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Friday that Israel was “tightening the noose around Hamas from all sides” and promised Gaza would be demilitarized once the Israeli government had sanctioned the peace plan, as it did later in the day.
“Hamas will disarm and Gaza will be demilitarized. If this can be done the easy way, all the better; if not, it will be done the hard way,” Netanyahu told reporters.
Who will rule Gaza?
Israel and Hamas have not reached an agreement on the postwar rule of Gaza.
According to the U.S. plan, an international authority will oversee the Palestinian land, governing Palestinian technocrats in charge of day-to-day management. Hamas and other parties would have no part in the rule of Gaza.
The proposal contemplates a future role for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long resisted. But it mandates that the authority, which governs some of the West Bank, first go through a wide-ranging reform program, and offers no timeline for doing so.
Hamas says Gaza’s government ought to be negotiated between Palestinians.
The agreement also acknowledges an independent Palestinian state. But it’s unknown if or when talks on statehood would occur, and Israel’s Netanyahu has consistently stated he will never agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
International security force
The plan envisions an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, with Egyptian- and Jordan-trained Palestinian police. It states that Israeli forces will withdraw from more territory as the forces deploy.
The force, under the plan, would cooperate with Israel and Egypt to assist in securing border regions, in addition to the newly established Palestinian police units.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stated that the international force must have a U.N. Security Council resolution to approve its deployment and mandate as a peacekeeping force.
There are around 200 U.S. troops currently in Israel to monitor the ceasefire and the initial phases of the peace plan. They were supposed to do that work in coordination with partner countries, nongovernmental actors and private-sector actors.
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