Leaders of Egypt and UAE endorse Trump’s Gaza peace plan
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi hosted his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Cairo, where they both welcomed US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, according to Middle East Monitor via Anadolu Agency on September 29th.
According to various media reports, Donald Trump revealed his 20-point peace plan to Arab and Islamic leaders on September 23rd on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly session in New York.
During what was described as a “fraternal visit”, El-Sisi and bin Zayed emphasised “the importance of supporting this peace initiative as a pathway toward achieving comprehensive and lasting peace in the region,” according to an Egyptian presidency statement.
The plan stipulates that Hamas must release all Israeli hostages within 48 hours, then disarm and relinquish power in Gaza. The latter condition had already been proposed by Arab countries, including Egypt according to CNN on July 30th.
The plan also details a political roadmap towards the establishment of a Palestinian state. If accepted by both Israel and Hamas, the United States will work with Arab states to develop a transitional International Stabilisation Force (ISF) composed of Palestinian security forces trained in Egypt and Jordan.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty revealed on August 14th that Egypt would train 5,000 Palestinian police officers to oversee Gaza’s post-war security administration and fill the vacuum left by Hamas’ departure from the famine-stricken territory.
The peace plan also explicitly asserts that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza”, but will instead oversee a military withdrawal and hand-over to the ISF “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization”, according to The New Arab plus agencies on September 29th.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially agreed to the plan during his visit to Washington DC. Trump even thanked him “for agreeing to the plan and for trusting that if we work together, we can bring an end to the death and destruction that we’ve seen for so many years, decades, even centuries”, according to Reuters on September 30th.
However, likely under pressure from far-right ministers in his fragile coalition government like finance minister Bezalel Smotrich – who denounced the plan as a “resounding diplomatic failure” – Netanyahu reneged on his alignment with many steps in Trump’s proposal.
According to The Guardian on September 30th, Netanyahu asserted that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “will remain in most of the territory”, referring to Gaza in a post to his Telegram channel. This openly defies the plan which strictly prohibits continued military occupation by Israel.
He also reasserted his opposition to Palestinian statehood and claimed that Israel did “absolutely not” agree to its eventual establishment and will “forcibly resist” any such process, according to the BBC on September 30th.
While Israel’s commitment to peace continues to appear flimsy at best, a source close to the peace process told CBS News on September 30th that after review, Hamas and other Palestinian factions “are leaning towards accepting President Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.”
The militant groups are expected to present their official response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on October 1st.
Middle East Monitor via Anadolu Agency, CNN, Maghrebi.org, The New Arab plus agencies, Reuters, The Guardian, BBC, CBS News
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