US President Donald Trump yesterday presented his plan for a ceasefire in Gaza and called it a historic opportunity to establish peace after two years of brutal violence, writes the „New York Times“. In reality, however, it was more of an ultimatum to „Hamas“, the publication commented, writes BTA.
The joint press conference of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House was a clear demonstration of unity at a time when the US president is showing signs of dissatisfaction with the Israeli prime minister, and much of the world is horrified by the way Israel is waging the war against „Hamas“ in Gaza, the newspaper points out.
„So far, it has been reasonable "Hamas is saying, 'Look at the growing isolation and condemnation of Israel. The Israelis are going to have to stop soon,'" said Elliot Abrams, a senior fellow for Near East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But Trump is now eliminating that possibility. Now Israel won't have to stop. It really puts Hamas in an awkward position," the expert said.
Seventy-two-year-old former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is emerging as a key figure in planning the reconstruction and management of the Gaza Strip if a ceasefire agreement is eventually signed between Israel and Hamas, the Washington Post reported.
Trump's plan for managing Gaza after the war is largely based on a document drafted by Blair, The publication points out. This is causing confusion among many Palestinians who remember the former British Prime Minister as one of the initiators of the war in Iraq, who throughout his long political career consistently sided with Israel, the American metropolitan newspaper writes.
It is unlikely that the group “Hamas“ will be in favor of a plan that explicitly stipulates that it must give up all or at least most of its weapons and watch from the sidelines as a technocratic “Peace Council“, headed by Trump himself, takes control of Gaza, writes the “Guardian“.
Moreover, after “Hamas“ hands over the hostages, nothing will be able to prevent Israel from fulfilling its part of the agreement, the publication points out. In March, Israel broke its promise to move to the second phase of the then-concluded ceasefire, which was supposed to lead to a final end to the conflict, the newspaper recalls.
The idea of restoring and normalizing relations between countries in the Middle East and expanding the scope of the Abraham Accords is attractive, but the last two years have shown that this prospect is clearly not that important to Israeli politicians, commented „The Guardian“.
There is no other politician who is as skilled as Netanyahu at saying one thing and doing another, writes the British newspaper „The Telegraph“.
He has long promised his core supporters that he will never allow a Palestinian state to be created, but Trump's plan envisages exactly that - no matter how distant this prospect may be, and that annexation and settlement building in Gaza and the West Bank must be permanently excluded from the agenda, the publication points out.
These would be significant sacrifices for Netanyahu, not least because he has repeatedly promised the right-wing parties that support his government that he would never accept such conditions, the Telegraph commented.
Ultimately, he may decide that a possible collapse of his coalition is too high a price and instead choose to disappoint Trump, the newspaper concluded.