Photo: Alamy
On Monday, President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point plan to achieve peace in the Middle East conflict between Israel and Gaza, but the administration still seems to be waiting on a decision from a key aggressor: Hamas.
During Monday’s announcement, President Trump noted that if Hamas agreed to the terms of the peace plan, not only would Gaza receive full aid, but Hamas – in exchange for Israeli hostages – would receive 250 life sentence prisoners and 1,700 Gazan detainees.
Israel must also withdraw their forces from the Gaza Strip in this plan. The timeline on this withdrawal will be decided on by the many countries involved in this negotiation – countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for example.
Hamas, in this plan, would be completely demilitarized and stripped of its political power. As reported by RSBN, a temporary Palestinian governing authority would be set in place in Gaza, overseen by a new “Board of Peace,” chaired by President Donald Trump and co-led by other heads of state.
However, if Hamas rejects the peace plan, the president said he fully backed Israel’s right to “finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,” although he hoped, instead, for a more peaceful resolution.
Importantly, Hamas has just 72 hours to decide on whether it will return the Israeli hostages within that timeframe. Returning the hostages would, hopefully, be a key first step in accepting the entirety of the peace plan.
The clock began ticking on Monday, giving Hamas little time left to acquiesce or refuse this demand.
On Tuesday, President Trump addressed the tense situation with the press.
“We’re going to do about three or four days,” President Trump said. “…All of the Arab countries are signed up, the Muslim countries are signed up, Israel’s all signed up. We’re just waiting for Hamas, and Hamas is either going to be doing it or not – and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end.”
