President Trump on Friday appeared optimistic about the prospects for peace in Gaza, saying it was “looking like we have a deal.” His administration is considering naming Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, to a role in overseeing Gaza after the fighting ends, according to three people familiar with the matter.
And on Thursday, Mr. Trump said he would not “allow” Israel to annex the West Bank.
But whether Mr. Trump can in fact bring the nearly two-year-old war to an end will probably depend on how much he is willing to push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has adamantly refused to back off his military campaign and has grown more defiant as multiple Western countries this week recognized a Palestinian state.
“It’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday, adding: “I think it’s a deal that will get the hostages back. It’s going to be a deal that will end the war.”
He also said at the U.N. that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now,” Mr. Trump said.
Ned Lazarus, an associate professor of international affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School, said Mr. Trump’s statement about the West Bank, home to some three million Palestinians, was a significant pushback against the far right in Israel, which has agitated for the annexation of the territory.
Mr. Lazarus said that “Trump is probably the only one who can force Netanyahu off the course that he’s chosen.”
“And so I think what we’re entering into is a period where Netanyahu may try to sense how serious Trump is,” Mr. Lazarus said, “because Netanyahu has nowhere else to go. He has burned Israel’s international support.”
In a meeting with Arab leaders at the United Nations, Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy for peace missions, laid out the American plan for peace: Hamas must return all Israeli hostages living and deceased, Israel must launch no further attacks on Qatar, and a new dialogue must begin between Israel and Palestinians for peaceful coexistence, according to a senior White House official.
U.S. officials have been particularly angry about Israel’s recent airstrike on Doha that targeted a residential building in an attempt to take out Hamas officials, but in the process killed a Qatari security officer.
Speaking at the U.N. on Friday, Mr. Netanyahu sounded in no mood to back off Israel’s military campaign. A Hamas official also told CNN that negotiations were “frozen.”
“The final elements, the final remnants of Hamas, are holed up in Gaza City,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “They vow to repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7 again and again and again, no matter how diminished their forces. That is why Israel must finish the job. That is why we want to do so as fast as possible.”
As Mr. Netanyahu entered the chamber, diplomats seated there got up and walked out en masse, leaving him to speak to a largely empty hall.
The Israeli prime minister harshly criticized those Western leaders, from countries including Britain, France, Canada and Australia, who have recently recognized a Palestinian state amid widespread starvation in Gaza.
“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after Oct. 7 is like giving Al Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after Sept. 11,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it.”
During his own speech at the U.N., Mr. Trump also criticized the countries lining up to support a Palestinian state, arguing that they should instead unite around a message of demanding Hamas return all hostages.
Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, noted that Muslim leaders left the meeting with Mr. Trump at the U.N. encouraged about the prospects of peace.
“We’ve heard them be optimistic and confident in the past, but the deal at the end of the day will be between Hamas and Netanyahu,” Mr. Sachs said, “and Hamas has been adamant that it will not disarm and hand over the hostages unless it secures its own position in Gaza.”
While Mr. Trump wields leverage over Mr. Netanyahu, he has less influence over Hamas, Mr. Sachs added.
As Mr. Trump says he is nearing a peace deal, planning for a postwar Gaza has ramped into high gear.
Mr. Blair has been trying to rally support for a proposal in which Gaza would be run by the Gaza International Transitional Authority, a governing body that would include a multinational security force.
The proposal, a version of which was viewed by The New York Times, calls for the establishment of a unit that would issue “protected departure certificates” to ensure that people wishing to leave Gaza would have the ability to return in the future. An “internationally mandated, multinational security force” would secure international crossings and conduct targeted raids “to prevent the resurgence of armed groups, disrupt weapons smuggling and neutralize asymmetric threats.” The Times of Israel reported earlier on the contents of the proposal.
Hamas is not mentioned in the document, but the plan calls for a “security oversight commissioner” to coordinate with the Palestinian Authority on “disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.” Under the plan, the Palestinian Authority would have a limited role in governing. But it imagines the group undergoing significant reforms and says the decisions of the Gaza International Transitional Authority and the Palestinian Authority should be “consistent with the eventual unifying of all the Palestinian territory under the P.A.”
The Palestinian Authority administers part of the West Bank and considers itself the rightful government of a future Palestinian state.
A person familiar with the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the proposal reviewed by The Times was not the full plan, and that more detailed documents about security and humanitarian efforts had also been developed.
The Tony Blair Institute declined to comment.
Another proposal in the works is a French-Saudi plan known as the New York declaration. It was approved by 142 countries at the United Nations General Assembly this month.
The plan sets out that after a cease-fire, Gaza would be governed by a transitional technocratic committee, under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority, which would commit to holding elections within a year of a cease-fire and putting reforms in place. Hamas would have to hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority and would be banned from any future governing of the territory.
Under the plan, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza and an international stabilization force under the aegis of the United Nations would offer security.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said in his address to the U.N., which he delivered remotely, that his organization was willing to take responsibility for Gaza and that Hamas would have no part in governing the enclave after the war.
Mr. Netanyahu, however, made clear he opposes the involvement of the Palestinian Authority, calling it “corrupt to the core.”
Natan Odenheimer contributed reporting.
Luke Broadwater covers the White House for The Times.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
Catherine Porter is an international reporter for The Times, covering France. She is based in Paris.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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