More than six months have passed since Donald Trump, in the company of a smirking Binyamin Netanyahu, slipped into land-speculator mode as he shocked the world by unveiling his vision for a reimagined Gaza as ‘the Riviera of the East’.
The Israeli prime minister praised his steadfast ally for “out of the box” thinking on that February day. On Monday, Netanyahu cut a more subdued figure as he returned to the lectern in the White House while the US president proclaimed on the latest White House plan to end the bloodshed and starvation and design a framework for stability in the Middle East.
Once again, it lacked nothing for imagination. But unlike six months ago, it generated the broad – if vague – support of key leaders in the region and prompted a supportive message from, among others, president Emmanuel Macron of France, who opined: “Hamas have to accept this deal.”
After a relentless barrage which has reduced Gaza city to a landscape of endless rubble and ruination not seen since the second World War and the death toll into the tens of thousands, the leaders of the militant group will be under tremendous pressure to accede to this. Although Trump’s address was framed in optimistic and even providential language, it was underlined by a clear choice. If this US 20-point plan is rejected, then Israel will return to its bombardment of Gaza with the full support of the White House, until Hamas, and its members, have been eliminated.
READ MORE
[ What’s in Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza?Opens in new window ]
If Hamas accept the peace plan, the fighting stops immediately, followed by the release of all 48 remaining Israeli hostages, living and dead, held by Hamas since their invasion and killing spree in Israel on October 7th, 2023.
“If accepted by Hamas this proposal calls for the release of all hostages immediately and in no case more than 72 hours,” Trump said.
“So, the hostages are coming back and I hate even saying this, it doesn’t sound right, but it is so important to their parents: the bodies of the young men are coming back immediately. If Hamas rejects the deal, which is always possible, they are the only one left. I have a feeling we are going to have a positive answer but if not Bibi, you have our full backing to do what you have to do. The tyranny of terror has to end. This is eternity. This is forever.”
A tendency towards exhilarated declarations before the details have been finalised has been a trait of Trump’s foreign diplomatic efforts since January. As ever, this solution produced as many questions as answers, not least the key issue of whether the Hamas leadership had been privy to the full contents of the plan in advance.
But it was significant that Trump resisted the temptation to hold court in his usual question-and-answer sessions with the media on Monday. That show of restraint was a tacit acknowledgment of the fragility of the situation, and the immensity of the moment. If Trump can broker an agreement that ends the appalling cycle of killing, it will substantiate his self-image and frequent boast that he is the president who ends wars.
[ Gaza peace plan is far from a done dealOpens in new window ]
Confirmation that Netanyahu had apologised, by White House telephone, to Sheik Mohammed bin Thani for Israel’s recent attack on Hamas leaders housed in Doha, served more than the purpose of assuaging Qatari anger. It may well fall to Qatar now to persuade Hamas to buy in, however reluctantly, to a peace agreement that more or less demands that they dissolve themselves as a military force and a political voice.
And while Trump was fulsome in his praise of support of Qatar and other Arab nations in the region, the plan is scant on detail of what their input would look like if peace is agreed. Will their support be limited to finance, or will they commit to troops on the ground?
Those finer points will fall to the ‘Board of Peace’, which will thrust former Labour prime minister Tony Blair back into the political spotlight. The announcement that this board, comprised of local and international experts, will be chaired by Trump himself makes for a startling image – a world removed from his February vision that pictured the tragic environs of Gaza razed and rebuilt as a luxury hotspot of the Middle East.
Everything about the plan reflects Trump’s fearlessness to voice unpredictable ideas, as well as his volatility and pragmatism. He never has and never can acknowledge that his infamous summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska was a humiliation, through which the Russian leader propelled himself back on to the international stage – and didn’t even bother staying for lunch.
For all of his political cunning and instinct, Trump retained a naive and vain view that he, he alone, could reason with Putin long after almost everyone else believed it impossible. His election boast that he would end the Russia-Ukraine conflict “on day one” has followed him around. And in recent weeks, he sounded deflated when acknowledging that Putin may not have been sincere after all. Now comes the prospect of a cessation of the death cycle in Gaza.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday night that they are “waiting to see the reaction of Hamas and Palestinians regarding this plan”.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump awakes on Tuesday with more local fires to put out as a government shutdown looms unless Congress can hammer out a funding deal before midnight.
Even as a sizeable portion of US citizens fret and despair over a presidency they see as defined by the hectoring and bullying of a presidency with a dark comedian at the helm, Trump continues to confound by occasionally pulling white rabbits from his Maga hat.
