By Gabby Deutch
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Israel had agreed to sign onto the White House’s 20-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza, with Trump calling the development “one of the great days ever in civilization.”
Both leaders described the deal, which would release all of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for an immediate end of the war, as the starting point for greater regional integration, a goal that Trump described as “eternal peace in the Middle East.”
Senior Trump administration officials first introduced the plan last week in a meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders in New York, and Trump said he had buy-in from the Qataris, who have been a go-between in negotiations with Israel and Hamas, and that he had discussed the matter with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
But the deal is not yet final: Hamas has not yet agreed to it, though Trump expressed hope that the terror group will do so. Trump said he would allow Netanyahu to continue the war with his “full backing” if Hamas does not agree to it.
