A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today in the White House.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Both leaders are expressing optimism about ending the war in Gaza. Trump has a new 21-point peace plan for Gaza. The U.S. is still negotiating the details with Israel and Arab countries. Will Trump and Netanyahu reach a breakthrough?
MARTÍNEZ: Let's discuss the details with NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. So, Daniel, what's in President Trump's proposal for ending the Gaza War?
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: I spoke with a person briefed on the proposal who confirmed to me some of the main points. It calls on Hamas to release all 48 of its remaining hostages, living and dead, up front. And then it calls for a gradual process where a multinational Arab and Muslim peacekeeping force would enter Gaza and Israeli forces would withdraw. Now, this is a plan that Trump presented to leaders of Arab countries in New York last week. It is the most serious effort yet since Trump entered office to end the war and to chart a postwar future for Gaza.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so how much is Israel on board with this U.S. plan?
ESTRIN: Yeah, that's the question. Netanyahu, the prime minister, has been negotiating the details with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and also with the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who's now gotten involved in this matter. And the person briefed on the talks told me that there are still a few difficult points left to resolve between the Israelis and the U.S. side. First is the issue of disarming Hamas. What would that look like? Hamas is adamantly opposed to giving up its weapons. And also, the question of the role of the Palestinian Authority in a postwar administration of Gaza.
Palestinian Authority is the internationally recognized Palestinian leadership. It's based in the West Bank. But Netanyahu does not want them to have any role in Gaza. He has long seen a unified Palestinian leadership as a step toward a Palestinian state, which he does not want. And notably, A, I should add this is not an Israeli-Hamas negotiation. This is an Israeli-U.S. negotiation here. Netanyahu, as we have reported, has been a major obstacle to ending the war throughout the war. He has a far-right coalition that still wants the war to continue, and they will find it very hard to accept a lot of the points that Trump is proposing now.
MARTÍNEZ: You know, we've heard before, Daniel, about deals being close or something in the works. It doesn't seem to ever happen. Any reason to think that this effort could be any different?
ESTRIN: Yes, I think there is reason. Trump, first of all, brought this plan to Arab leaders, and Arab leaders are on board. And Trump wants it. That is the biggest point. It will be difficult for Netanyahu to tell Trump no to his proposal. Trump is Netanyahu's only major ally left. Israel faces growing international isolation over its conduct in the war. And Hamas, for its part, is also under major pressure from Arab countries and from Palestinians suffering under the war in Gaza, under major pressure to agree to a ceasefire.
So this really is a critical moment. Next week, we will mark two years of war. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has now reached more than 66,000, according to Gaza health officials. So all eyes now are on Trump and on Netanyahu as they meet today in the White House. We will see if they announce if they've reached an agreement on a road map forward. And then the ball will be in Hamas' court.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thank you.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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