NEWS ANALYSIS
With New U.S. Proposal to End Gaza War, a Rare Moment of Triumph for Netanyahu
In President Trump’s plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got almost everything he hoped for in the end, despite mounting international isolation.
David M. Halbfinger and Aaron Boxerman
Reporting from Jerusalem
Heading into their meeting on Monday, the question was whether President Trump would apply enough pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to end the war in Gaza.
Ultimately, Mr. Netanyahu got almost everything he could have hoped from Mr. Trump’s proposal — a demand that Hamas release the hostages immediately and lay down its weapons, without which Israel would have carte blanche to keep pummeling Gaza.
As for Israeli troops, they would get to remain in Gaza’s perimeter for the foreseeable future. There was such a stinting nod to the aspiration of statehood for Palestinians that the proposal all but suggested they just keep dreaming. And the Palestinian Authority would be left playing no role in Gaza anytime soon.
It was a rare moment of triumph that showed Mr. Netanyahu could still get much — if not all — of what he wanted despite Israel’s mounting international isolation. Just last week, several European countries recognized a Palestinian state over Israeli objections, while a diplomatic walkout left Mr. Netanyahu addressing a mostly empty room at the United Nations.
On Monday afternoon, standing alongside Mr. Trump, Mr. Netanyahu praised the U.S.-backed plan as fulfilling his own conditions for ending the war with Hamas. And Arab and Muslim governments, including the Palestinian Authority, appeared ready to fall in line.
As for Hamas, it would have no say at all in the future governance of the Gaza Strip, making explicit what had been left vague in earlier attempts at ending the conflict.
Still, the group and its leadership have been so decimated by the war, and it faces so much apparent pressure from Muslim countries including its patrons in Qatar and Turkey, that its acquiescence is not impossible to imagine.
Hamas’s leaders now must decide whether to accept Mr. Trump’s plan, negotiate its terms or reject it outright. All the options carry serious risks for the Palestinian armed group, which has managed to survive two years of an Israeli onslaught by fighting a dogged insurgency.
Hamas negotiators were expected to meet with Turkish officials on Tuesday in the Qatari capital, Doha, “to push for an end to the war through this plan,” according to Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters in Washington that he would give Hamas “three or four days” to respond to the proposal.
Hamas would struggle to accept a deal that would amount to surrendering its rule in Gaza, but brushing off a clear path to ending the conflict would risk further angering Palestinians who have lived through nearly two nightmarish years of killing and devastation. Some Gazans accuse Hamas of fighting a war for its own political survival at their expense.
Ibrahim Madhoun, a Palestinian analyst close to Hamas, said the Trump plan was “based on excluding Hamas,” making it difficult for the group to accept. Hamas officials have previously said key elements, such as surrendering their weapons, would be a red line.
Hamas could still agree to the proposal — or at least accept it as a basis for negotiations — to end the war, he said. But many of the plan’s 20 other points were downright unclear, meaning that they would require protracted talks to hammer out, he added.
More surprisingly, the Arab ministers said nothing about the Palestinian Authority.
Without any role planned for it in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority nonetheless welcomed Mr. Trump’s “sincere and determined efforts” to end the war and affirmed its “confidence in his ability to find a path toward peace.” It went on to say that it wanted “a modern, democratic and nonmilitarized Palestinian state.”
The P.A. also said that it was committed to changing textbooks that critics say demonize Israel and to abolishing the payment of stipends to Palestinian prisoners and their families. It said it would invite international scrutiny of those changes.
That response showed how much has changed since 2020, when Mr. Trump released a peace plan for the overall Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was similarly skewed toward Israel’s preferences. Back then, in an American election year, the P.A. rejected Mr. Trump’s proposal out of hand, and he was voted out of office that November.
Today, the P.A. is being allowed by Mr. Trump to cling to the hope of a future for itself. Hamas is not.
David M. Halbfinger is on his second assignment as Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times, leading coverage of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. After his first tour there, from 2017 to 2021, he served as Politics editor, overseeing coverage of national politics, threats to democracy and the 2024 presidential campaign.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
More on the Middle East Crisis
Italy Supports U.S. Plan: Italian lawmakers said they will recognize a Palestinian state if Hamas releases Israeli hostages and is kept out of any eventual government.
U.S. Proposal for Gaza: In President Trump’s proposal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got almost everything he hoped for in the end. Interviews in Gaza suggested widespread public support for the plan among suffering civilians, but Hamas looks to avoid the “take it or leave it” deal. Read the proposal’s full text.
Tony Blair: With a central role in Trump’s Gaza plan, the former British prime minister could reshape a career narrative that was tarnished by Iraq and unredeemed by a stint as a Middle East peacemaker.
Aid Flotilla: Israel intercepted several boats from a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid as they tried to break Israel’s longstanding maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to statements from flotilla organizers.
Trump Promises to Defend Qatar: An executive order says an attack on Qatar would be treated as a threat to the U.S., bolstering security commitments to a key Gulf ally after Israel’s strike on Doha.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/world/middleeast/trump-netanyahu-israel-gaza-war.html
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten