Trump and Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 29, 2025.PHOTO: REUTERS
The deal would demand Hamas militants fully disarm and be excluded from future roles in the government. However, those who agreed to “peaceful co-existence” would be given amnesty.
Following Israeli withdrawal, the borders would be opened to aid and investment.
In a crucial change from Trump’s earlier apparent goals, Palestinians will not be forced to leave and instead, the document said, “we will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.”
The US president had met key Arab leaders at the United Nations last week and said Sunday on social media that “ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER.”
Netanyahu has recently given little reason for optimism, vowing in a defiant UN speech Friday to “finish the job” against Hamas and rejecting Palestinian statehood — recently recognized by several Western nations.
Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, the US president has shown increasing signs of frustration ahead of the Israeli premier’s fourth White House visit since Trump’s return to power.
Trump was infuriated by Israel’s recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.
And he warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as some of Netanyahu’s cabinet members have urged, a move that would seriously complicate the route to Palestinian statehood.
Israel’s withdrawal in phases
Trump said Washington’s peace plan for Gaza would involve the drawing up of a timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw from the Palestinian enclave in phases.
“Working with the new transitional authority in Gaza, all parties will agree on a timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw in phases,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to a new body that would govern the Palestinian territory.
But Netanyahu has given little reason for optimism, vowing in a defiant UN speech Friday to “finish the job” against Hamas and rejecting Palestinian statehood — recently recognized by several Western nations.
“To reach a good deal, a reasonable deal for both sides, both sides have to give up a little bit and might leave the table a little bit unhappy,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
‘Stand firm’
Trump’s plan, according to The Times of Israel and US news site Axios, calls for an immediate ceasefire, a phased Israeli withdrawal and the release of hostages within 48 hours.
Israel would then free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including several serving life terms.
Normally a staunch ally of Netanyahu, the US president has shown increasing signs of frustration ahead of the Israeli premier’s fourth White House visit since Trump’s return to power.
Trump was infuriated by Israel’s recent strike on Hamas members in key US ally Qatar.
And he warned Netanyahu last week against annexing the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as some of Netanyahu’s cabinet members have urged, a move that would seriously complicate the route to Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu’s coalition government is propped up by the far-right ministers who oppose a peace deal.
The path to a deal remains strewn with pitfalls.
Both Israel and the Arab states are still quibbling with the wording of key parts of the peace plan, including the role any international force and of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority in post-War Gaza.
“The likelihood of… a reformed Palestinian Authority that changes completely its stripes, that accepts a Jewish state… well, good luck,” Netanyahu told Fox News in an interview Sunday.
Voices from Gaza
Israeli strikes continued across the Gaza Strip, killing at least four people in Khan Yunis, according to the Hamas-run territory’s civil defense agency.
Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged Trump to uphold his Gaza proposal. “We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the deal you have brought forth,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in an open letter to Trump.
A mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza near the border, in Israel, September 28, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS
In Gaza, people expressed a mix of hope, exhaustion and distrust ahead of the White House meeting.
“I don’t expect anything from Trump, because Trump supports Netanyahu in destroying the Gaza Strip and displacing people to carry out the Riviera project,” said Mohammed Abu Rabee, 34, referring to Trump’s earlier proposal to turn the Palestinian territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The outcome may hinge on how far Trump pushes Netanyahu, said Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “Netanyahu has a clear preference for continuing the war and defeating Hamas, but I don’t think it’s impossible for Trump to convince him otherwise,” Sachs told AFP.
The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally from Israeli official figures. Israel’s offensive has killed 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
