Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza
Recap
We will be closing this live page shortly. But before we do, here is a recap of the day’s major developments:
US President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, saying that if Hamas does not accept it, he will give full support to Israel to do “what it has to do”.
Diplomatic sources told Al Jazeera that Hamas’s negotiating team is reviewing the proposal.
The plan has been welcomed by several Western nations, including France and Italy, as well as Arab and Muslim countries, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.
The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has said he considered the US proposal to be a “recipe to blow up the region”.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu apologised to Qatar’s prime minister for the death of a Qatari in the Israeli attack on Doha earlier this month.
As talks were ongoing in Washington, Israel’s attacks continued in Gaza, where at least 39 people were killed.
An Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon killed one person.
Trump peace plan leaves room for ‘interpretation’ and ‘manipulation’
Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, says that Trump’s peace plan is an agreement that leaves Israel and Hamas equally dissatisfied, but that several issues can be negotiated in its implementation phase.
“There are a number of good and bad elements to it,” Rahman told Al Jazeera. “It is also vague enough for wide interpretation and even manipulation over its implementation phase, and there is a lot that needs to be negotiated.”
Despite its flaws, the peace plan offers a lifeline to Palestinians as they are being “slaughtered”, Rahman said.
“Everything that can bring an end to this bloodshed and allow the entry of aid is good,” he added. “There is very little alternative for Palestinians, as Israel has been carrying out a genocide for the past two years, and nobody is stopping it.”
I have decided to stay in Gaza City as Israel seeks to wipe it out
For a few weeks now, the Israeli army has been issuing forced displacement orders to Gaza City residents, destroying towers and carpet-bombing neighbourhoods. Hundreds of thousands have fled south already, where they have found no safety.
Just yesterday, we mourned with heavy hearts and deep sorrow the killing of three members of the family of my father’s cousin, Yousef. The building where they had found shelter in the south was bombed just days after they fled Gaza City. Nedaa, Yousef’s wife, along with their children Roaa, 19, and Hamoud, 11, were killed.
The south of Gaza is not a safe zone, as the Israelis claim. Tents of displaced people are attacked every day.
The fact of the matter is that Palestinians in Gaza City now have a choice between two deaths – staying or leaving. Both are deadly.
UK Labour Party members vote to recognise Gaza genocide at conference
Members of the UK’s Labour Party have voted to recognise that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in a move that increases pressure on the UK government to adopt the same position.
Delegates at Labour’s conference approved an emergency motion backing the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry, which earlier this month concluded that Israel “has committed genocide”. The vote was strongly supported by trade unions.
The decision contrasts with Labour leader and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as senior ministers, who have argued that the question of genocide should be determined by international courts rather than politicians.
