The important talks today are those that will take place in the Oval Office today between Trump and Netanyahu, not the proximity talks in Doha. If Trump stands behind what he has been writing in social media and his short comments to journalists, he will tell Netanyahu that the war in Gaza must end now and all the hostages must come home.
If this is in fact Trump’s position, then he also has to tell Witkoff and Bahbah that there is no point in having the deal which calls for a 60-day ceasefire and returns only half of the hostages. The war must end completely within two weeks – that is the maximum time needed for the Israeli army to withdraw from Gaza and to redeploy on the Israel-Gaza border. In two weeks, all of the hostages must be released – if needed in two phases – not more. First the living and then the bodies of those who did not survive. During the two weeks, the agreed to number and names of Palestinian prisoners can be released. President Trump can guarantee the entire deal by stating the following:
- The United States guarantees that the war is over and the fighting will not be renewed, including the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the agreed demarcation points, as long as Hamas does not try to rearm and reorganize to take control over Gaza.
- The United States will work with the Palestinian leadership and the Arab states to determine the immediate governance structure for Gaza until the Palestinians are able to conduct national elections.
- The temporary Palestinian-Gazan government must be appointed immediately by President Abbas and empowered to take control over Gaza. They must be credible, non-corrupt, respected Palestinians who would be accepted by the majority of Gazans.
- The United States calls on the Arab nations to play a positive role by sending a temporary Arab-led force to Gaza to work with the temporary Palestinian-Gazan government to establish law and order. The United States calls on Hamas to turn over its weapons to the security force of the temporary Palestinian-Gazan government.
- The United States will guarantee the safe passage of those Hamas personnel who would like to safely exit Gaza with their families.
A RECAP:
This is the best possible scenario for ending this horrible war. We have all experienced so much pain and trauma, that the healing process will take a very long time. That process begins with the ending of the war and the killing, the return of hostages, a massive amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza after an international security mechanism checks it, the establishment of a temporary Palestinian-Gazan government, the deployment of a temporary Arab-led force in Gaza. This must happen with the launching of a serious and committed international effort to advance the implementation of the two-states solution which can be led by the Franco-Saudi initiative in the framework of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two States Solution. And hopefully – the fall of the Netanyahu government and new elections in Israel.
