1 of 8 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump (R) participate in a joint news conference in the State Dining Room of the White House on Monda. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a 20-point U.S. plan to end the war with Hamas in Gaza as he met Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump for the fourth time in the White House this year.
During their head-to-head session, Netanyahu apologized to Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani for an Israeli strike on the nation on Sept. 9 that killed a Qatari security guard and several lower-level Hamas members. The three leaders spoke for several minutes on the phone.
The 20-point plan was revealed during the news conference. It was cut from 21 points after it was initially presented to Arab leaders in New York last week.
“I also want to thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for agreeing to the plan and for trusting that if we work together, we can bring an end to the death and destruction that we’ve seen for so many years, decades, even centuries, and begin a new chapter of security, peace and prosperity for the entire region,” Trump said.
Hamas still needs to agree to the deal to end that war, which began Oct. 7, 2023, after Israel was attacked.
“I hope that we’re going to have a deal for peace,” Trump said. “And 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 to do what you would have to do.”
Trump, speaking to the media with Netanyahu, said they discussed the peace plan and post-war governance of Gaza with several foreign leaders, including those from Qatara, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“These are the people that we’ve been dealing with that have been actually very much involved in this negotiation, giving us ideas, things they can live with, things they can’t live with — pretty complex,” Trump said.
During an appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump said he met with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Also, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Trump at the White House last week.
Trump said the developments Monday were “a big, big day, a beautiful day, potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilization.”
The 20-point plan was put together by son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and special Steve Witkoff.
Within 72 hours of Israel’s public acceptance of the agreement, “all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.”
Israel believes there are 20 hostages still alive and 28 deceased in Gaza. Since Hama attacked Israel, 148 hostages have been returned through cease-fires and rescue operations by the Israeli military.
“I believe that today we’re taking a critical step towards both ending the war in Gaza and setting the stage for dramatically advancing peace in the Middle East, I think beyond the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. “I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims. It will bring back to Israel all our hostages, dismantle Hamas military capabilities and its political rule and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.”
In the plan: “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.”
And “no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.” Trump originally wanted forced displacement.
There “will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors,” and the area will be “redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.”
Netanyahu said the Palestinian Authority won’t have a role in the future governance of Gaza without “radical” transformation.
“I appreciate your firm position that the PA could have no role whatsoever in Gaza without undergoing a radical and genuine transformation,” Netanyahu told Trump.
The leaders didn’t take any questions from reporters.
One unnamed senior administration official told Politico that Trump believes Netanyahu is losing his hold on power.
“Bibi is on his own island,” one of the officials, using a nickname for Netanyahu, told Politico. “Not just from us, from his own government.”
Israel has been under growing pressure from the international community to end the war in Gaza, which has spurred famine and a humanitarian crisis among the Palestinians.
The leaders of several countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada and France, formally recognized an independent Palestine on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s general debate in New York City last week. During Netanyahu’s speech before the assembly, dozens of representatives stood up and left the General Assembly Hall in protest.
The death toll has dropped 66,000 Palestinians, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday.
Trump, Netanyahu on call to Qatar’s prime minister
Before the news conference, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a readout of the phone call with the Qatari leader.
“I want to assure you that Israel was targeting Hamas, not Qataris,” according to a readout. “I also want to assure you that Israel has no plan to violate your sovereignty again in the future, and I have made that commitment to the president.
“I welcome the President’s idea to establish a trilateral group to address both our countries’ outstanding grievances.”
Qatar, which is an Arab nation, has served as an intermediary with Hamas in the talks.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticized the apology.
“The strike on senior Hamas officials, the masterminds of the October 7 massacre, in the enemy state of Qatar was an important, just, and profoundly moral strike,” Ben-Givir said.
“It is time to tell the world the truth: Qatar is a state that supports terror, funds terror, and incites terror. No amount of money will wash the terror from its hands,” Smotrich said.
Trump meets with Netanyahu at the White House
President Donald Trump (L) greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington on September 29,, 2025, before they discuss a peace plan for Gaza. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
