Trump unveils 20-point Gaza cease-fire plan with him running board of peace, warns Israel will finish the job if Hamas objects
WASHINGTON — President Trump formally unveiled a 20-point peace plan Monday calling for an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip and a post-Hamas transitional government overseen by a “Board of Peace” — that Trump himself would lead as chairman.Trump, 79, announced his vision alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and said the framework could bring “eternal peace in the Middle East.”The president also warned Hamas that Israel would have his permission to “finish the job” if the terrorist group won’t sign on to the plan, saying that “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.”Trump added that “the leaders of the Arab world, Israel and everybody involved, asked me to” chair the proposed board and floated the prospect of the deal leading to dramatic regional changes –including possible diplomatic relations between Israel and Iran.Netanyahu confirmed that his government had agreed to the provisions, adding that Israel would finish the war and end Hamas rule of Gaza “the easy way” or “the hard way.”In an interview with Qatar-based Al Jazeera following Trump’s and Netanyahu’s remarks, Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi claimed that Trump’s peace plan “has not reached us, nor has it reached any Palestinian party so far.“We were not informed of Trump’s plan before its announcement,” Mardawi added, “and its terms are close to the Israeli vision.”The document released by the White House states that if all parties agree, “Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.”“This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the ‘Board of Peace,’ whi...