In the early morning of September 30 local time, the United States announced a ¡°comprehensive plan to end the conflict in Gaza,¡± the ¡°20-point plan¡± proposed by Trump to end the conflict in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has agreed to accept the plan and Palestinian President Abbas has welcomed it. In addition, foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have issued a joint statement in support of Trump¡¯s ¡°20-point plan.¡±

Since the escalation of the Israeli conflict on 7 October 2023, Trump¡¯s plan is currently the most widely supported Gaza peace plan.HamasHamas has confirmed that it has received this latest proposal and will study it with a "seriously positive attitude" and formally respond.

After suffering two years of military strikes, Hamas has basically lost the possibility of continuing to possess arms and rule Gaza.On the other hand, the UN has passed a resolution in a way that has made Hamas almost lose its legitimacy in the international community.

On September 29 local time, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/Vision China at the White House

The result of a compromise

Of course, Netanyahu has also made compromises. For example, in the past two years, Israel's primary goal in its war against Gaza has been to completely eliminate Hamas. However, according to the "20-point plan", Israel needs to first stop fighting in Gaza and withdraw military forces to designated areas before taking back all hostages. Moreover, as long as Hamas members lay down their arms and stopped engaging in anti-Israel actions, they could have a way out. In addition, according to the "20-point plan", Israel cannot occupy or annex Gaza in the future.

It is noteworthy that in order to pursue the ¡°20 Points Plan,¡± Trump has apparently put a strong pressure on Netanyahu. The Israeli strongman, during a three-party call with Qatar¡¯s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed and US President Trump, apologized to Qatar for the Israeli attack on Qatar¡¯s capital, Doha, and regretted the attack that led to the death of a Qatari security force member.

Trump called Qatar¡¯s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed.

Of course, Israel's three major operational goals-destroying Hamas, rescuing hostages, and militarizing Gaza cannot pose a threat to Israel-can also be achieved under the "20-point plan". Even if Hamas does not cooperate, Trump has made it clear that he supports Israel to continue to fight against Gaza until it achieves complete victory. Therefore, whether it relies on the "20-point plan" or Trump's support for continuing the war in Gaza, Israel has achieved its combat goals in Gaza to a certain extent.

The Palestinian National Authority also made a compromise and no longer called for a takeover of Gaza at this time. Of course, the "20-point plan" also leaves room for the Palestinian National Authority to take over Gaza in the future, which is its own successful governance reform and the smooth advancement of this Gaza peace plan.

Is the turning point of peace coming?

Compared to a few months before Trump¡¯s takeover of Gaza, the ¡°20 Points Plan¡± showed that Trump also made some changes. For example, no longer asking the Gazans to leave, the Gazans who want to leave will be free to leave and return freely, and encourage people to stay. His previously called Gaza real estate and tourist vacation development project has also been left behind the head, but to drive the overall development of Gaza. The feasibility of the plan far exceeds his previously proposed empty takeover of Gaza plan.

To the people of Gaza, who are suffering from humanitarian crises such as food shortages, the implementation of the ¡°20 Points Plan¡± is a positive signal that they can get out of the crisis in a relatively short time, at least at the moment.

According to the ¡°20 Points Plan¡±, the United States will work with Arab countries and international partners to advance the formation of a temporary international stability force and to deploy it immediately to Gaza. Without surprise, the United States should have previously consulted with relevant Arab countries on this, and some consensus has been reached. At present Gaza objectively needs to maintain a strong force of stability, and it is necessary to establish a multinational joint stability force to go to Gaza in case any single country sending troops will be questioned or not willing to do so.

Trump and Netanyahu meeting.

It is worth noting that although the "20-point plan" blocked the Netanyahu government's dream of Israel directly taking over Gaza, Israel's influence on Gaza is still very strong and even decisive. Neither the Palestinian Council (composed of Palestinians and international experts) responsible for Gaza's interim transition nor the Trump-led Peace Council responsible for overseeing it can deviate too far from Israel's wishes when acting, and Israel will also have a non-negligible impact on the operation of these two institutions.

Of course, the smooth advancement of the "20-Point Plan" also faces some difficulties. For example, whether the source of funds for Gaza's reconstruction will be funded by the governments of some countries or obtained from commercial investment, which requires further coordination and arrangement. For another example, are some forces in Israel willing to accept this Gaza plan? Differences within Israel have always existed on the Palestinian issue.

Although Trump¡¯s ¡°20 Points Plan¡± still has some implementation difficulties, overall, as a result of a multi-party compromise, it is indeed the most operational Gaza peace plan since the escalation of the conflict on October 7, 2023.

(Author: Director and Professor of the Center for the Middle East at the Shaoxing Institute of Arts and Sciences China)

Author: Van Houten

Edited by:Ðì·½Çå