By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers
Netanyahu Backs US Plan to End Gaza War
Gaza would be
governed by a transitional “apolitical” committee made up of Palestinians and
overseas experts under a 20-point peace plan agreed to by US President Donald
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the pair said would
lead to the immediate end of the war and the release of all remaining hostages
within 72 hours if Hamas accepts the deal.
Trump on Tuesday 30
(AEST) laid out the plan for ending the
Israel-Hamas war and establishing a postwar governance in the war-battered
Palestinian territory. The plan does not require people to leave Gaza and calls
for the war to end immediately if both sides accept it.
Trump’s plan would
establish a temporary governing board for Gaza to be known as the “Board of
Peace” that would be headed by Trump and include former
British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It would include Palestinians and
international experts and would set the framework and handle the funding for
the redevelopment of Gaza until the Palestinian Authority has undergone major
reforms.
The weekly rally at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, in
support of the release of the Israeli hostages.
The plan adds that
members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza would be provided safe passage to
receiving countries. Hamas is believed to be holding 48 hostages, 20 of
whom are thought by Israel to still be alive. The militant group has demanded
that Israel agree to end the war and withdraw from all of Gaza as part of any
permanent ceasefire.
Trump discussed the
US plan with Arab and Islamic leaders in New York last week on the sidelines of
the UN General Assembly. It doesn’t include the expulsion of Palestinians from
Gaza, which Trump appeared to endorse earlier this year.
Australia’s deputy
prime minister, Richard Marles, told ABC radio on Tuesday that the plan
represents hope for the region to end hostilities and see aid flow into Gaza
and hostages returned.
“Our view,
ultimately, is that the only way that there will be an enduring peace in the
Middle East is if there are two states,” he said. “The plan, as it’s been
articulated, keeps the door open for all of that. So that’s where we see that
there is hope.
Anthony Albanese has welcomed US President Donald
Trump’s plan for Gaza:
“We certainly welcome
this, and we do thank the Americans for the efforts that they have put in here
… There have been plans in the past, of course, and so, you know, we’re not
there yet. But I think it does represent hope.”
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