The effectiveness of Trump's Gaza plan depends on Hamas. What the media is writing
US President Donald Trump announced a plan for a peace agreement in the Gaza Strip, which was supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Hamas group, which holds hostages in the Palestinian enclave, has not yet responded to Washington's proposal. Without this, peace in the Middle East will not be guaranteed. What the world's media are writing about the new attempt to resolve the conflict is in the Izvestia digest.
NBC News: Trump will support Israel in case of rejection of Hamas plan
US President Donald Trump announced his own plan for a peace agreement in the Gaza Strip after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. At the same time, he said that Tel Aviv would receive "full support" from Washington to destroy Hamas if the plan failed. The White House said that Hamas members who commit to peace and lay down their weapons will be granted amnesty, which will open up the possibility for them to return to a peaceful life, and those who wish to leave Gaza will be given safe passage.
NBC News
"I hope that we will conclude a peace agreement, and if Hamas rejects it, which is always possible, then they will be left alone," Trump said. "Everyone else accepted it." In an exclusive interview with NBC News on Sunday before the crucial talks, Trump sounded optimistic. "Everything is going very well with us. It looks like there are really good chances for peace in the Middle East," he said. — Everyone supports it. That's it."
The sources said that the plan was generally received positively by most of the interested parties, although they do not know if the Hamas movement has reviewed it, and stated that it is likely to be finalized during negotiations. The US plan implies that Hamas will not play any role in the governance of Gaza. It also says that there will be no forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and the UN will provide humanitarian assistance.
Associated Press: Hamas faces a difficult choice.
Hamas faces a difficult compromise: the proposal requires the group to actually surrender in exchange for uncertain benefits. But if she rejects the deal, the United States could give Israel even more leeway to continue its military campaign in already devastated territory. According to Trump's proposal, the militant group would have to disarm in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, and the promise of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, something its population desperately hopes for.
Associated Press
However, this proposal contains only a vague promise that someday a Palestinian State will be possible. For the foreseeable future, Gaza and its more than 2 million Palestinians will be under international control. International security forces will be deployed there, as well as a "Peace Council" headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to oversee the administration and reconstruction of Gaza. The territory will remain surrounded by Israeli troops.
The proposal includes a provision that Netanyahu and his hardline government oppose most strongly: it states that Gaza will eventually be governed by a Palestinian Authority. But Netanyahu is probably betting that this will never happen. Israel rejects any Palestinian State.
Financial Times: Tony Blair will join the "Peace Council"
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be a member of the international Peace Monitoring Council. After announcing the plan for the Gaza Strip, he stated that he would be happy to work under the leadership of Trump, who would head the proposed council. At the same time, some members of Blair's Labour Party, who had not forgiven the former prime minister for his strong support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, did not believe it.
Financial Times
Blair said: "President Trump has proposed a bold and thoughtful plan that, if adopted, could end the war, bring immediate relief to the people of Gaza [and] give them a chance for a brighter and better future, while ensuring Israel's absolute and long-term security and the release of all hostages. This is our best chance to end two years of war, poverty and suffering, and I thank President Trump for his leadership, determination and commitment."
Blair, who served as special representative for the Middle East after leaving Downing Street, has been working on plans for the Gaza Strip in his personal capacity for more than a year, using his Tony Blair Institute to formulate his ideas. The central theme of his proposals was international guardianship of the Palestinian enclave. According to diplomats, he coordinated his actions with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. In August, they were both at the White House for a meeting with Trump and his senior officials about the Gaza Strip.
The Guardian: Trump's plan is ambitious, but it doesn't guarantee peace
At first glance, the 20-point plan seems more likely than anything we've seen so far and will end the two-year conflict in Gaza. Trump has invested a lot of political capital in establishing peace in the Middle East. It is obvious that he enjoys deep and broad regional support, including, most likely, from Netanyahu. But this is not a detailed roadmap, but rather a rough sketch on the back of an envelope, which allows for equal chances of both getting lost completely and reaching the desired destination.
The Guardian
First, Hamas is unlikely to approve a plan that explicitly calls for the surrender of all or most of its weapons and the supervision of how the technocratic "Peace Council" headed by Trump himself captures Gaza. Offering amnesty to members of this radical Islamist organization who agree to peaceful coexistence with Israel is hardly attractive, even if the group could claim that the UN and the Red Crescent have finally delivered enough aid to the devastated Palestinian territory.
Will Qatar or other countries be able to put enough pressure on Hamas to achieve at least a temporary agreement on a program that will actually destroy this organization as a political and military force, at least in the Gaza Strip? Will its leaders be persuaded by the argument that the approximately 50 Israeli hostages held by the group are now a burden because they give Israel a reason to continue the campaign? Will the military commanders of Hamas in Gaza agree with its political leadership in Qatar or Istanbul? None of this is guaranteed.
CNN: It will be difficult for Trump to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip
An agreement to end the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza would be a major diplomatic victory for Trump, who is openly seeking the Nobel Peace Prize. According to U.S. officials, it could also pave the way for a larger plan that would transform the Middle East, potentially paving the way for an expansion of the Abraham Accords. The resumption of the Trump administration's efforts to achieve a ceasefire took place against the background of the recognition of the Palestinian state by a number of Western countries at the UN General Assembly.
CNN
Trump has openly expressed optimism about the cease-fire before, repeatedly predicting that a cessation of hostilities would occur in just a few days or a week. However, so far his predictions have not come true, and the war has not abated.
The previous plan, unveiled by the Trump administration in recent days, called for the release of all 48 remaining hostages (20 of whom may still be alive) in exchange for an end to the war and a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. That plan, like the one released on Monday, stripped Hamas of any future role in governing Gaza, offering instead two levels of interim governance: an international body and a Palestinian committee.
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