What does Trump’s Gaza peace plan promise?

WASHINGTON – Israel and Hamas have agreed on terms to implement the first steps US President Donald Trump has proposed for settling their two-year war.

Their preliminary agreement is expected to result in Hamas returning all 48 of the hostages it still holds, roughly 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

Israel would release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and withdraw its military forces in Gaza to an agreed-upon line, and significant aid would flow into the territory.

While agreeing to release the hostages, Hamas has withheld its judgment on other aspects of

Mr Trump’s 20-point plan

, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted. In its most ambitious form, the plan envisions Hamas doing what it has said it would not: Surrendering.

That would mean agreeing to disarm and give up all power in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has ruled since 2007. Such a move, according to the plan, would precipitate an end to operations in Gaza by Israeli forces, their gradual replacement by international peacekeepers, and the rebuilding of the devastated territory.

Should Hamas refuse to surrender, the plan, which is short on specifics, calls for those steps to proceed in areas within the Gaza Strip that have been cleared of the group’s forces.

Apart from the exchange of hostages for prisoners, here’s what the plan entails:

What does the plan offer Israelis?

The plan calls for Gaza to be demilitarised under the supervision of independent monitors with the aim of ensuring it can’t pose a threat to Israel in the future. The

war began with a Hamas attack on Israel

from Gaza on Oct 7, 2023.

What does the plan promise Palestinians in Gaza?

Most immediately, the plan promises an end to Israeli military operations that have ravaged Gaza’s infrastructure and killed more than 66,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

“Full aid” is to be sent “immediately” into Gaza, parts of which are

experiencing famine

, according to a UN-backed monitor.

Beyond that, the plan promises that Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of its people. There’s an assurance that Israel won’t occupy or annex the territory and that instead Israeli forces will gradually withdraw.

There is also a promise that no Gazans will be forced to leave the territory and that the people there will be free to do so if they choose – and free to return. Earlier in 2025, Mr Trump raised alarms by suggesting that the

US government take over a depopulated Gaza Strip

and turn it into a resort.

What’s supposed to happen to Hamas and its members under the plan?

In the most ambitious version of the plan, Hamas – which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and European Union – would agree to have no role in the governance of Gaza “directly, indirectly, or in any form”.

Once all hostages are returned to Israel, members of the group are to be granted amnesty if they commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons. Those who wanted to leave Gaza would be provided safe passage to another country.

The plan calls for “regional partners” to provide a “guarantee” that Hamas complies with these obligations.

Who is meant to secure peace in Gaza?

The plan calls for the US to work with Arab states and other partners to create something called the International Stabilisation Forces (ISF), which is meant to deploy immediately in Gaza.

The idea is for Israel’s military to gradually hand over territory it controls in Gaza to the ISF based on a timeframe still to be worked out. The plan calls for Israeli forces to retain a presence along Gaza’s perimeter until the territory is “properly secure from any resurgent terror threat”.

The ISF is tasked with training and supporting a new, local police force in Gaza, which is intended to take care of the territory’s internal security in the long term.

Who is to govern Gaza under the plan?

The plan calls for the establishment of a temporary committee to run public services and municipalities in Gaza made up of Palestinian and international technocrats.

It’s to be overseen by an international board, which would include former British prime minister Tony Blair and be headed by Mr Trump. The board is also meant to “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza”, about which there were no specifics.

Does the plan offer Palestinians a path to their own state?

The plan acknowledges that statehood is the Palestinian people’s aspiration and expresses the possibility that in time, conditions will create “a credible pathway” to achieving it. BLOOMBERG