By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a 20-point plan that he said, if implemented, will end Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip and lead to the release of all hostages who are being held there.
"This afternoon, after extensive consultation with our friends and partners throughout the region, I'm formally releasing our principles for peace, which people have really liked, I must say," Trump told reporters at the White House during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump said Hamas remains the only party which has not accepted his proposal yet, though it is unclear if the Palestinian group received it before it was officially published by the White House shortly before the press conference.
"Everyone else has accepted it, but I have a feeling that we're going to have a positive answer. But if not, as you know Bibi, you'd have our full backing to do what you would have to do," he said, referring to Netanyahu by a nickname. "Everyone understands that the ultimate result must be the elimination of any danger posed in the region, and that danger is caused by Hamas."
Israel has carried out its nearly two-year campaign on Gaza with unwavering diplomatic and military support from the Biden and Trump administrations. That has included the unhindered provision of offensive military equipment, and six uses of the US veto to halt action at the UN Security Council to call for a ceasefire.
Over 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, as the enclave has been largely reduced to rubble leading to mass displacement, acute shortages of daily necessities including food and water, and the spread of disease.
Trump said that under his plan a transitional interim governing body, which he called the "board of peace," will be established, with Trump himself serving as the chair. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other national leaders will also be included, the president said.