WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump published on Monday a 20-point peace proposal for Gaza that would end the war between Israel and Hamas and require the return of all hostages living and dead within 72 hours of a ceasefire.
The plan leaves many details for negotiators to hash out and hinges on acceptance by Hamas fighters who launched the war against Israel on October 7, 2023. It refers to a redeveloped Gaza as “New Gaza.”
Here are the main elements of the plan that resulted from intense negotiations in recent weeks between Trump and his team, and Israeli and Arab leaders:
- If both sides agree to the proposal, the war will end immediately. Israeli forces will withdraw partially to prepare for a hostage release. All military operations will be suspended and battle lines will be frozen in place until conditions are met for the “complete staged withdrawal” of Israeli forces.
- Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the proposal, all hostages, alive and dead, will be returned. Once all hostages are released, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences plus 1,700 Gazans arrested after the start of the conflict on October 7, 2023. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans.
- Once all hostages are freed, members of Hamas “who commit to peaceful coexistence” and give up arms will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided with safe passage to receiving countries.
- Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip, with quantities consistent with the levels mandated under a January 19, 2025, accord. Aid deliveries will proceed without interference from Israel or Hamas through the United Nations and related agencies.
- A “deradicalised” Gaza will not pose a threat to its neighbours and will be “redeveloped” for the benefit of Gazans.
- The Trump plan envisions a “Board of Peace” of international overseers led by Trump himself and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in an undefined role. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a “technocratic, apolitical” committee made up of Palestinians and international experts, to be overseen by the Board of Peace. This group will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until the Palestinian Authority has undergone major reforms.
- A Trump economic development plan to rebuild Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts “who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East.” A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
- Under the plan, no one will be forced to leave Gaza, which has sustained heavy damage during the war, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. “We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza,” the plan says.
- Hamas and other factions would agree to have no role whatsoever in governing Gaza, directly or indirectly. All military infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons production facilities, will be destroyed. Independent monitors will supervise the demilitarisation of Gaza.
- “New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbours,” according to the plan.
- Regional partners will work to ensure that Hamas and related factions comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat.
- The US will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilisation Force to immediately deploy in Gaza.
- Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. The Israeli Defence Forces will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the International Stabilisation Force.
- The plan is vague on a pathway to Palestinian statehood. It says that while Gaza redevelopment advances and when the Palestinian Authority is reformed, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”
- The US will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a “political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.”
