In a stunning turn of events that has ignited fierce debate across the Arab world and beyond, key Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Egypt issued a joint statement yesterday welcoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly unveiled 20-point peace plan for Gaza. The proposal, hammered out in marathon talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, demands the full disarmament of Hamas, an immediate ceasefire, and the release of all Israeli hostages within 72 hours in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
While Trump hailed it as a blueprint for “eternal peace,” critics from Palestinian factions to independent analysts are decrying the Arab endorsement as a humiliating capitulation to Israel’s unyielding security demands, effectively sidelining Palestinian sovereignty and paving the way for prolonged Israeli oversight in Gaza.
Arab foreign ministers, in their unified response, expressed “confidence” in Trump’s “sincere efforts” and pledged cooperation to ensure “full Israeli withdrawal” and a “just peace” based on a two-state solution. Yet, the statement’s caveats – demanding no displacement of Palestinians and integration of Gaza with the West Bank – rang hollow to detractors.
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