Palestinians flee from the Gaza conflict. (photo: XNA/ VNA)

President Trump announced his plan on Monday just before a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. The plan details Trump’s commitments to resolving the Gaza conflict.

International management of Gaza

According to the plan, 72 hours after Israel accepts the plan, all hostages—whether dead or alive—will be released. In return, Israel will free 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Palestinians detained following Hamas’s October 2023 attack. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans.

The plan says that all military operations will be suspended during the release process and battle lines will remain frozen until “conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal”. Hamas members who pledge to live peacefully and surrender their weapons will be granted amnesty or allowed to relocate to countries willing to receive them. At the same time, humanitarian aid will be delivered to Gaza without delay.

The plan proposes to form a temporary “technocratic and apolitical Palestinian committee”, which will be overseen and supervised by an international “Board of Peace,” headed by Donald Trump. The board would include other heads of state and international officials, including the former British prime minister Tony Blair.

In addition, a special economic zone with preferential tax rates would be created in Gaza, alongside an international investment committee, to restore infrastructure and foster development. Trump said the establishment of an international board of Gaza, instead of placing the power under the Palestinian Authority, would guarantee benefits to all parties, particularly the Palestinians, given the current difficulties in the Gaza Strip.

“What the future holds for the Palestinians, no one really knows, but the plan that we put forward today is focused on ending the war immediately, getting all of our hostages back, getting everything back, and creating conditions for durable Israeli security and Palestinian success,” said Trump.

Another significant provision in Trump’s plan is the assurance that no one will be forced to leave Gaza. Those who wish to leave Gaza will be given safe passage to countries who have agreed to receive them. This point is particularly crucial for neighboring Arab nations which have concerned that a forced mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza would trigger a major security and migration crisis.

The White House said that the US, Israel, and Qatar will establish a “trilateral mechanism” to resolve disputes and oversee the agreement’s implementation. The agreement comes after Trump brokered a phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister al-Thani, during which Netanyahu apologized for the attack in Doha and pledged not to repeat any violation of Qatar’s sovereignty.

A win for many sides?

Trump’s 20-point plan has received cautious responses. Standing by Trump at the press conference, Netanyahu confirmed Israel’s acceptance of the plan, saying it meets Israel’s goals in the conflict and represents the most realistic path to end the Gaza conflict and open new prospects for peace across the Middle East.

Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour welcomed Trump’s efforts to end the conflict immediately and bring peace to Gaza, particularly his opposition to Israel’s plans to annex the West Bank.

According to Sina Azodi, a Middle East politics expert at George Washington University, Trump’s plan addresses the interests of multiple stakeholders in the Gaza conflict, making it much likely be approved by the parties.

“Any proposal that ends the conflict in Gaza and prevents further civilian casualties is a positive development. It is a win for everybody. President Trump gets to have his peace deal. The conflict will end for the Palestinians. The Israelis can also retrieve their hostages and those who died in captivity. And eventually, I think if everything goes well, Palestinians will be able to govern their own,” said Azodi.

Observers said that the plan’s thorniest issues are provisions of Hamas’s full disarmament and removal from future political role in Gaza. In its first reaction, a senior Hamas official told Qatar’s al-Araby TV that the group is ready to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority to form a unity government overseeing both Gaza and the West Bank, signaling Hamas’s unwillingness to accept exclusion from Gaza’s new political process.

Some Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority had earlier called for adjustments to Trump’s plan, specifically suggesting the use of softer language regarding Hamas’s disarmament. They also requested that Gaza’s post-conflict administration be more closely linked to the Palestinian Authority, and that any international peacekeeping force be stationed only along the Israeli border, not inside Gaza territory.