So, Trump and Bibi have agreed to a peace plan, with Hamas remaining as the third leg of the triangle determining whether the plan goes forward. I’m not overwhelmingly impressed with the plan, which is a combination of same-old-same-old, Trumpian “looking past the point of sale” sales pitches, and promises that rely on a dangerous “international community.” However, for a battered Israel, it’s probably a necessity. The real sting lies in the threat to Hamas if it refuses to accept or abide by the deal.
Here’s the plan outline, per the White House:
President Donald J. Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 29, 2025
1. Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.
2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.
3. If… pic.twitter.com/veqhr9MW28
I’ve interlineated brief comments after the points. If you have the patience, I’ve expanded on those comments in the video-podcast embedded below. Also, if you continue reading below, I’ll explain the real force of the proposal:
President Donald J. Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict:
1. Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors. [An introductory statement that, typically for Trump, envisions a promise past the point of sale.]
2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough. [An introductory statement that, typically for Trump, envisions a promise past the point of sale.]
3. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal. [A generic statement that a ceasefire will exist if the parties agree to the plan.]
4. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned. [This is a key reason why Israel is accepting the plan. For the Israeli public, getting the hostages back is all-important. The whole nation is being held hostage to the hostages.]
5. Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans. [This is how Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 attack ended up back in control of Hamas. Israel always does this and it never ends well.]
6. Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries. [???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? This is an invitation to Taqiya, the Muslim practice of lying to achieve a goal.]
7. Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the January 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads. [Thanks to Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Gaza already has more food than most African nations. If people are hungry, it’s because of Hamas’s control over food. So, this is performative.]
8. Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the January 19, 2025 agreement. [In other words, two organizations completely in thrall to Hamas will continue to give Hamas control over food.]
9. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment. [This is nonsense. There is no such thing as an “apolitical Palestinian committee.” Tony Blair was the man who spearheaded the UK’s current downfall. The only guarantee Israel has from this international body, all of whose members are hostile to Israel, is Trump himself.]
10. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza. [As long as the people of Gaza remain in Gaza, this won’t be the UAE or Saudi Arabia under Muhamed bin Salman. It will, instead, be a sinkhole of corruption...or at least, that’s my prediction.]
11. A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries. [If the Gazans can produce anything saleable, other nations will try to encourage trade. Whatever.]
12. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza. [Talking past the point of sale. It also reflects the fact that no one in their right mind should want the Gazan people, who have been trained for generations into Islamo-Marxist terrorism and always make for bad neighbors, including in Muslim countries.]
13. Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors. [If this were to happen, it would be a good thing. It’s Trumpian optimism. I don’t see it happening, given how Hamas is woven into the warp and woof of Gazan culture, and that the overseers, other than Trump, are actively hostile to Israel and passively and actively supportive of Hamas.]
14. A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people. [A lot of people think that this paragraph means that the surrounding Arab nations will police Hamas. I see the same problems I commented upon regarding Point 13.]
15. The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A deconfliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties. [The one thing we know is that Jordan and Egypt have extensive experience controlling Hamas...and redirecting it against Israel.]
16. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the Unites States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat. [Israel doesn’t want to occupy or annex Gaza, which has proven to be a terrible tar baby. It wants to flatten it, but, currently, knows it won’t be allowed to do so. The best it can hope for is a safe withdrawal, followed by the alleged, non-literal “security wall” the peace plan builds around Gaza.]
17. In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF. [In other words, Hamas will be corralled into an area in which it can be a military target for the IDF. This is good.]
18. An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace. [This is an unfair, relativistic sop to the Arab nations who must buy into the plan. Israelis have longed for peace since 1948, and consistently acted on that longing. It’s the so-called Palestinian people who have been trained to become a genocidal death cult.]
19. While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people. [Again, a sop. Hamas does not want a state. It openly wants (1) Israel’s destruction and (2) a worldwide caliphate. The two-state solution is pap for useful idiots in the West.]
20. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence. [Trumpian talking past the point of sale.]
As you can see, I think it’s a lousy plan. What it gives Israel, though, is the hostages and a safe withdrawal. What it gives Hamas is breathing space to regroup. It is, in other words, “same old same old” stuff, the type of ceasefire peace plan that we have seen so many times before, and that culminated in the October 7 attack.
Except...except this time there is a single difference. Bibi has said that this is Hamas’s only chance; if it fails to accept the agreement or reneges on it, Israel will finish Gaza:
I think we should understand that we’re giving everybody a chance to have this done peacefully, something that will achieve all our war objectives without any further bloodshed. But if Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself.
This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done. We prefer the easy way, but it has to be done. All these goals must be achieved because we didn’t fight this horrible fight, sacrifice the finest of our young men, to have Hamas stay in Gaza and threaten us again and again and again with these horrific massacres.
I hope he means it. And maybe he does because, even more important than the bravado in that statement is the fact that Trump has agreed:
????BREAKING — @POTUS gives Hamas an ultimatum:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 29, 2025
"If Hamas rejects the deal...Then as you know, Bibi, you have our full backing to do what you have to do..
..The ultimate result must be the elimination of any danger posed in the region, & the danger is caused by Hamas"
Boom. pic.twitter.com/iBuV197uyu
That’s the real peace plan.
If you’d like a more detailed analysis, I did a video-podcast, which you can watch or listen to here:
You can also watch the video on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
UPDATE: Hillel Fuld, who lives in Israel, thinks the plan is a good one:
I'm just more cynical about the reality on the ground versus the goals set out in the plan.