President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Israel had agreed to sign onto the White House’s 20-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza, with Trump calling the development “one of the great days ever in civilization.” 

Both leaders described the deal, which would release all of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for an immediate end of the war, as the starting point for greater regional integration, a goal that Trump described as “eternal peace in the Middle East.” 

Senior Trump administration officials first introduced the plan last week in a meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders in New York, and Trump said he had buy-in from the Qataris, who have been a go-between in negotiations with Israel and Hamas, and that he had discussed the matter with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. 

But the deal is not yet final: Hamas has not yet agreed to it, though Trump expressed hope that the terror group will do so. Trump said he would allow Netanyahu to continue the war with his “full backing” if Hamas does not agree to it. 

“This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way. But it has to be done,” Netanyahu said at the press conference. “All these goals must be achieved because we didn’t fight this horrible fight, sacrifice the finest of our young men, for Hamas to stay in Gaza.”

The plan would require the release of all the hostages still held by Hamas back to Israel within 72 hours, and an immediate end to the war, according to a copy of the plan published by the White House. In exchange, Israel would release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli jails, along with nearly 2,000 Gazans detained since the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023.

The first principle of the plan is that Gaza would be deradicalized, with Hamas out of power and transitional mechanisms in place to take over governance of the beleaguered territory. Amnesty would be offered to Hamas members “who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons” once the hostages are returned. Hamas members who wish to leave would have safe passage to do so, although the plan does not explicitly state that they will be required to leave. The plan would also surge aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other international mechanisms as soon as the hostages are released.

An international transitional body, with Trump as chair and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair heavily involved, would oversee the redevelopment of Gaza until the Palestinian Authority has been reformed and is able to take over leadership of the Gaza Strip. The U.S. and other Arab and international partners would develop a temporary stabilization force to deploy in Gaza, and Trump would oversee the creation of an economic development plan to facilitate investments in the seaside territory. 

“I believe that today we are taking a critical step towards both ending the war in Gaza and setting the stage for dramatically advancing peace in the Middle East, and I think beyond the Middle East, with very important Muslim countries,” Netanyahu said. “We’re giving everybody a chance to have this done peacefully, something that will achieve all our war objectives without any further bloodshed.” 

Several Muslim leaders announced their support for the deal, including the prime minister of Pakistan and the Emirati foreign minister. 

As Trump and Netanyahu stood side by side, each heaping praise upon the other, they were not entirely on the same page about all aspects of the deal — in particular the role of the Palestinian Authority in the future governance of Gaza, which Netanyahu has all but written off, despite that goal listed as an objective in the White House’s plan. 

“Gaza will have a peaceful civilian administration that is run neither by Hamas nor by the Palestinian Authority,” Netanyahu said, a contrast to the plan’s language that the PA — once it is reformed, an objective that could take years — will control Gaza. 

The White House deal also recognizes “Palestinian self-determination and statehood” as “the aspiration of the Palestinian people.” Netanyahu, however, has said repeatedly that a Palestinian state is out of the question. 

Trump did not refer to the plan’s language about Palestinian statehood in his remarks, instead offering leeway to Netanyahu. “Prime Minister Netanyahu is very clear about his opposition to a Palestinian state,” Trump said. “Several countries have foolishly recognized the Palestinian state.” 

The leaders’ comments followed a three-hour meeting between Trump and Netanyahu. During the meeting, Trump orchestrated a phone call between Netanyahu and the Qatari emir, which Trump said afterward was a “a heart-to-heart conversation” in which Netanyahu apologized for Israel’s attack on Doha last month that targeted Hamas leaders and killed a Qatari security guard. The three nations agreed to launch a “formal trilateral mechanism” to “enhance mutual security, correct misperceptions and avoid future misgivings.” 

The full text of the plan says that even if Hamas rejects the plan, the scaled-up humanitarian aid operation will continue, and terror-free areas will be handed over from the Israel Defense Forces to the international stabilization force. But Trump said that Israel will have the “full backing” of the U.S. to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not accept the plan. 

“If Hamas rejects the deal — which is always possible, they’re the only one left. 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,” said Trump.