Netanyahu: Trump’s plan would leave Gaza unarmed and without a Palestinian authority

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during his cabinet meeting that he had reached understandings with U.S. President Donald Trump on the 21-point American peace plan, saying these understandings deliver “major gains for Israel”, notably a mechanism to disarm Hamas and the exclusion of the Palestinian Authority from any role in administering the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said Israel would undertake the disarmament of Hamas itself if the “Peace Council” that Trump announced fails to carry out the task, adding: “If the parties concerned do not implement the steps for disarmament, we will do it ourselves. This is agreed between me and Trump, and the deal is better than many think.”

He said the U.S. president had given the parties involved a deadline of three to four days to respond, saying he would hold talks with Israeli party leaders to discuss developments and describing the current phase as “a very big opportunity.” He added: “It will end either with goodwill or with force, or both.”

On the debate over possibly involving the Palestinian Authority in administering the Strip, Netanyahu said “the wording regarding a Palestinian state is ambiguous, but the Palestinian Authority is outside this plan. Even the Peace Council does not appoint representatives for it,” stressing that all decisions will remain in the hands of Israel and the United States, according to what he described as “a full wall of conditions.”