In a moment of extraordinary geopolitical gravity, US President Donald Trump has unveiled a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict – a proposal whose ambition, structure, and support represent a seismic shift in Middle Eastern diplomacy. But beneath its layered diplomacy lies a singular, inescapable truth: Trump is making it clear that Hamas must be eliminated, and the Palestinian movement reinvented – not merely reformed, but reversed. What he is offering is not a negotiation between equals, but an ultimatum wrapped in a pathway: disarm, de-radicalise and rebuild, or be dismantled by force.
‘This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done,’ said Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, standing alongside President Trump in a joint press conference at the White House, endorsed the initiative in full, calling it a ‘critical step’ towards ending the war and advancing peace in the region.
The two men were true to form – Trump, meandering and ad-libbing freely; Netanyahu, disciplined, bold, and absolute in his visions and positions. They appeared not as uneasy partners but as collaborators, trusted allies presenting a unified front. Whatever pressures or negotiations had preceded this moment were rendered invisible by the mutual respect and evident rapport on display.
Trump drifted in and out of the plan’s finer points, occasionally diverting to criticise his predecessor, Joe Biden, or celebrate his own achievements. Netanyahu, by contrast, remained focused on the details that mattered most to Israeli security and the calibrated sequencing of Palestinian obligations required to advance each phase. He thanked the United States for its unwavering support, singling out Trump for his backing in Israel’s war with Iran. He paid tribute to Israeli soldiers, the resilience of his people, and the memory of those who had sacrificed everything in the course of this war.
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The Trump plan checks every box of Israel’s war objectives: the return of all hostages, the end of Hamas’s military capabilities, the termination of its political rule in Gaza and the establishment of a civilian administration devoid of Hamas or Palestinian Authority control. In Netanyahu’s words, the plan would ‘ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.’
At its core, the proposal is anchored in three sequential commitments: an initial Israeli withdrawal to an agreed line prior to a hostage release; the immediate suspension of all military operations during that period; and, contingent upon the return of all the hostages within 72 hours, a staged process of Gaza’s rehabilitation, demilitarisation, and political restructuring.
Trump’s plan envisions Gaza as a ‘deradicalised terror-free zone,’ governed temporarily by an apolitical Palestinian technocratic committee under international oversight. This transitional authority would be supervised by a newly established ‘Board of Peace’, led by President Trump and featuring other world leaders including former prime minister Tony Blair. The board will oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, drawing on modern urban planning and backed by a Trump-led economic initiative to turn Gaza into a zone of opportunity.
The plan includes a prisoner exchange calibrated to the return of Israeli hostages, both living and dead. Amnesty is extended to Hamas members who disarm and pledge peaceful coexistence; others will be granted safe passage to third countries. International monitors will oversee a decommissioning programme to eliminate militant infrastructure. A temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF), backed by Arab and Western countries, will secure Gaza’s internal order and train Palestinian police.
Critically, and perhaps most surprisingly, the proposal has garnered backing from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey: three states with complex ties to Hamas. This is no mere diplomatic gesture. It signals the mobilisation of the Arab world behind a plan that calls, explicitly and unambiguously, for the dismantling of Hamas as a military and political actor. This is, by any measure, an extraordinary realignment.
President Trump’s message was blunt: if both parties accept the plan, the war ends. If Hamas refuses, the plan proceeds in the ‘terror-free areas’ of Gaza and Israel retains its mandate to eliminate Hamas by force. Netanyahu echoed this dual pathway: ‘This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done.’
That framing raises a fundamental question: what does any of this mean if Hamas says no? The answer, implied throughout the text and stated openly by Netanyahu, is stark. Trump has, in effect, given Israel international cover to finish the job militarily if Hamas rejects the offer. The opposite of the UK, France, Canada style ‘neutral’ proposition, this is no less than a final ultimatum.
At the same time, the deal offers Palestinians a route to what President Trump calls a ‘credible pathway’ to statehood, but only if they embrace a total transformation: politically, ideologically, and institutionally. The plan does not recognise Palestinian statehood, but it does acknowledge it as an aspiration. That is a crucial distinction. Statehood is no longer being offered as a consolation prize for terror, but as a reward for credible, peaceful governance.
Netanyahu, long sceptical of both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, expressed cautious support. He reaffirmed that Gaza would not return to PA control unless the PA underwent a ‘radical and genuine transformation,’ which, he noted, most Israelis believe is highly unlikely. He welcomed Trump’s insistence that the PA would have no role absent such a change, and added that this was not mere lip service. There would need to be full recognition of the Jewish state, and a complete end to the diplomatic war waged against Israel in international courts. This, he said, would be a ‘wonderful transformation,’ though his scornful laughter at the possibility made clear just how remote he judged it to be.
Trump is making it clear that Hamas must be eliminated
In strategic terms, the plan asserts an unambiguous principle: jihadist militias cannot be allowed to obstruct reasonable aspirations for peaceful existence. That is a red line whose enforcement has been elusive in previous conflicts. With Trump’s plan, it has been drawn with clarity.
This is a moment of immense consequence. It offers a structured, sequenced, and internationally-backed path toward ending the war, dismantling Hamas, and reconstructing Gaza. It aligns the major Arab states with Western powers in a unified diplomatic front. It tests the seriousness of Palestinian leadership. And it draws a line that says: peace is available, but only to those willing to disarm, reform, and build.
Through this optimistic plan and text, Trump is, in fact, making it clear that Hamas must be eliminated, and the Palestinian movement must be totally reinvented, almost as its own opposite: something committed to peace, interfaith collaboration, coexistence, disarmament, deradicalisation, decency, and growth. None of these are traits for which the Palestinian leadership is historically known. He is offering them Palestinians the chance, but not necessarily offering odds on their willingness to take it. Simultaneously, he is preparing the region and the world for a scenario in which those same objectives can be legitimately achieved by other means.
That is what is evident in his tight and publicly coordinated alignment with prime minister Netanyahu. These two men, Trump and Netanyahu, are perhaps the only two political figures present or past who could have forged such a moment. This moment exists because of their convergence: their victories and their setbacks, their persistence and their reputations. Without them, such a plan would have been dismissed out of hand. With them, it now defines the political horizon for Gaza and beyond.
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