When the United States announced the Gaza peace plan in late September, it was heralded by some and approached with skepticism by others.
Since then, the plan has been marred with accusations by both Israel and Hamas that the other side has not abided by the stipulations laid out in the agreement.
Now, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are coming off a highly anticipated meeting on Dec. 29, in Florida, in which the two failed to reach an understanding as to how to accomplish the second phase of peace plans in Gaza.
The peace deal has been strained several times already since its October implementation, with both parties claiming repeated violations that have been followed by Israeli airstrikes and multiple exchanges of gunfire in the Gaza Strip.
The plan’s first phase required an immediate cease-fire, Hamas to return all Israeli hostages — living and dead — within 72 hours of the agreement’s signing, an initial withdrawal of Israeli forces from areas of the Gaza Strip leaving Israel with control over 53% of the territory, the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, 1,700 other Gazan detainees, the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each deceased Israeli hostage received and an increase of vital humanitarian aid to the Strip.
Trump said he wants to move to the second phase of the plan “as quickly as we can,” hammering home the point that that is reliant on Hamas disarming.
Phase 2 of the plan calls for the organization of the new post-war governance structure in Gaza. The small strip on the Mediterranean will be ruled by a board of 15 Palestinian technocrats, which was selected in October and approved by various Palestinian factions, including Hamas.
In November, the U.N. Security Council approved a U.S.-written resolution that will allow for a temporary administration to rule Gaza for the time being.
Israel is also required to further withdraw its troops to cede control of the territory down to 40% and 15% before setting up a security perimeter around the enclave during the third phase until it’s “secure” from a “resurgent terroristic threat.”
Trump said during a press conference at the meeting that Hamas needs to disarm quickly in order for the implementation of leadership to get underway.
“If they don’t disarm as they agreed to … then there will be hell to pay for them, and we don’t want that, we’re not looking for that, but they have to disarm within a fairly short period of time, withdrawing its force,” said Trump.
The next phase is also contingent on the remains of an Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili, being returned. He is the last such hostage, dead or alive, yet to be returned to Israel.
Trump discussed the rebuilding efforts in Gaza and said he thought the process was “going to begin pretty soon” after being asked if the process would begin before Hamas disarmed.
After the meeting, Trump spoke to reporters about several other countries in the Middle East, including Syria and Iran.
Trump said he hoped Israel would “get along with Syria” amid tensions between the two countries.
On Iran, Trump said that if the country tries to rebuild its nuclear program that the U.S. struck earlier this year, he would support an Israeli attack on Iran.
Netanyahu received only one question during the event. He was asked what makes Trump such a strong friend to Israel.
“I think Israel is very blessed to have President Trump leading the United States, and I’ll say leading the free world at this time. I think it’s not merely Israel’s great fortune. I think it’s the world’s great fortune,” he said.
Trump returned the compliment to the Israeli leader, praising the strength of Netanyahu in an answer to the same question.
“Bibi’s a strong man. He can be very difficult on occasion, but you need a strong man,” said Trump. “If you had a weak man, you wouldn’t have Israel right now. … Israel, with most other leaders, would not exist today.”
The world continues to watch as the friendship between Netanyahu and Trump — strained at times — takes center stage while the threat of further conflict in the Middle East looms.