Trump Touts Israel’s Approval Of His Gaza Peace Plan. Hamas Has Not Agreed.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the White House on Monday that they’ve reached a tentative agreement on the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

But Hamas has not yet agreed. And despite Trump’s assertions that “eternal peace” could be at hand, he and Netanyahu both demanded Hamas effectively surrender or face destruction, with the Israeli leader vowing that his military would “finish the job” if they turn the deal down.

“This could be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way,” Netanyahu said. “But it will be done.”

The proposal calls for Hamas to disarm, return all the hostages within 72 hours and relinquish control of power, according to an outline of the plan released by the White House.

Despite the myriad and enormous obstacles, Trump insisted peace was at hand.

“We’re right there, we’re right there,” Trump said.

The president’s comments, which largely echoed Israeli talking points, came shortly after Netanyahu called to express “regret” to the emir of Qatar for bombing his capital amid Israel’s widening war against Hamas.

Netanyahu also said “that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty,” according to a White House readout of the phone call.

The Qataris described Netanyahu’s comments as an apology. Though the private call comes weeks after a Qatari security official was killed, it still marks a notable concession from an oft-defiant politician who has rarely, if ever, expressed contrition for defending Israel.

Ilan Goldenberg, a former Biden administration official who dealt with the Gaza war and is now a senior official with the left-leaning pro-Israel group J Street, noted that an apology from Netanyahu could hurt him politically with his base.

"It goes to show you what you can do to Bibi Netanyahu when you have some leverage, and you apply some actual pressure, and you say, 'Son, it's time for you to get on the phone and apologize to your sibling,'" he said. "And he did it, and it was actually kind of mind boggling, like over complete opposition in Israel. So you know, [Trump] has the ability to make Bibi do things."

The call appeared to help pave the way for Trump’s peace proposal.

Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani agreed “to establish a trilateral mechanism to enhance coordination, improve communication, resolve mutual grievances, and strengthen collective efforts to prevent threats,” the White House said in a readout of the phone call.

Hamas’ willingness to return all hostages and allow an international body to at least temporarily control Gaza remains uncertain — as does Trump’s own commitment to enforcing the agreement.

A diplomat briefed on the matter said Qatari and Egyptian officials presented Hamas negotiators with the proposal. Hamas promised to study it, according to the diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive conversations.

A second person involved in the process, also granted anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations, suggested that a response may not come for a few days.

If both sides agree, the White House plan states, “the war will immediately end.” Israeli forces would withdraw and military operations would cease so that all hostages held by Hamas, alive and deceased, would be returned, said Trump, describing the plan at a press availability alongside Netanyahu following more than two hours of meetings. Once the hostages are released, Israel would release around 2,000 Gazans, prisoners and detainees.

Although Trump acknowledged that the plan hinges on Hamas’ consent, the president sounded an optimistic note about that possibility. “I’m hearing that Hamas wants to get this done too,” he said, adding that if the group balks, Netanyahu would have America’s “full backing to do what you would have to do.”

But Trump also took time in his 29-minute speech to needle Netanyahu, suggesting that the Israeli prime minister, who's been at war for nearly two years, "doesn’t know about getting back to a normal way of life," and noting the ongoing protests in Israel calling for an end to the war.

Netanyahu confirmed his support for the U.S. plan, and said he would “ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.”

“We’re giving everybody a chance to have this done peacefully,” Netanyahu said, vowing that, should Hamas say no to Trump’s proposal, Israel would continue with its bombardment of Gaza until Hamas is fully defeated.

Netanyahu’s rhetoric at the White House mirrored the speech he gave last week at the United Nations General Assembly during which he vowed that Israel would “finish the job” in Gaza.

Although the event was billed as a press conference, neither leader took questions from the reporters in the room following their remarks after Trump suggested that the situation was too delicate.

The accelerating diplomacy at the White House came after a day of lengthy negotiations in Washington between Netanyahu and two key architects of the president’s plan: Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who helped broker the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term.

Both men were in the Oval Office with Trump when Netanyahu called Qatar, a key interlocutor with Hamas.

During their Sunday meeting, Netanyahu asked for and received some amendments to the initial plan, according to a person familiar with the conversation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Trump on Monday informed Qatari officials of Israel’s requested changes, which Arab and Muslim countries expressed support for during a meeting last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The plan, in broad terms, creates an international trusteeship for Gaza with a nominal line of coordination to the Palestinian Authority and an Arab and Muslim international security force. Trump mentioned former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s interest in playing a role in a future Gaza trusteeship but no other individuals who might also take part. Hamas, Trump said, “will play no role in the governance of Gaza at all” under the plan.

The plan also commits to additional humanitarian aid for Gaza and states that, in the event Hamas rejects the plan, that aid would continue to flow to “terror-free” areas while the Israel Defense Forces would be free to continue fighting elsewhere.

This is a critical aspect that “disproves the thesis that Israel is being maximalist and unreasonable and shows that Hamas is the impediment to peace,” said a Trump administration official familiar with the proposal who was granted anonymity to discuss it. “It lets Netanyahu lessen the pressure and get aid and rebuilding in some of the areas they control, focus resources on Gaza City and give security of occupied parts to the Arab forces or contractors.”

The executive committee, which would also include Palestinian technocrats, would eventually bring the Palestinian Authority under its umbrella and reunite with the West Bank, after a period of time to be negotiated, the person said. It does not allow for the mass displacement of Palestinians and other details about relocations also need to be negotiated.

Expressing hope for a peace that could last “for eternity,” Trump, for all his hyperbolic rhetoric, also acknowledged that the region’s future remains very much up in the air.

“What the future holds for the Palestinians? No one really knows,” he said.

Dasha Burns contributed to this report.