MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. He announced a plan to end the war in Gaza, but Trump says the plan goes beyond ending that war.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm not just talking about Gaza. Gaza's one thing, but we're talking about much beyond Gaza. The whole deal - everything getting solved. It's called peace in the Middle East. So today is a historic day for peace.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
It is the first time Trump has laid out both an end to Israel's war in Gaza and what the day after will look like for the territory's 2 million Palestinians nearly two years after the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel.
MARTIN: Joining us now to explain the plan is NPR's international correspondent Aya Batrawy, who's in Dubai. Aya, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So could you just start with the most important points of this plan? What are they?
BATRAWY: So this plan would kick off with the release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza - the 20 who are believed to be alive and the bodies of those killed. And that would happen in the first 72 hours of a ceasefire. Then hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid - food, medicine, tents - would start flooding Gaza daily, reversing a man-made famine that's been declared by experts because of Israeli restrictions. And also, Israel would release around 2,000 male Palestinian detainees and all women and children held in Israeli prisons since October 7. Israel would also release several hundred bodies of Palestinians that it holds.
MARTIN: What's been the reaction from Israel and Hamas?
BATRAWY: Well, this is not the ultimate victory over Hamas that Netanyahu and his far-right coalition want because it doesn't allow for the full occupation of Gaza and the continuation of the war. But Netanyahu is trying to sell this as a major win for Israel. Listen to him speaking alongside Trump at the White House yesterday.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: 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.
BATRAWY: And this plan, Michel, lets Israel keep boots on the ground in much of Gaza for the foreseeable future, and that's where it's unclear how Hamas will respond. Hamas would have to release all the hostages up front in one go without a clear timeline for Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas would also have to, quote, "decommission" its weapons under this plan. But Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza insist it's the right of Palestinians to armed resistance under occupation.
MARTIN: The plan also calls for Arab forces on the ground to maintain security and to train Palestinian police. How have these countries reacted to the plan?
BATRAWY: Well, Arab states and Turkey put out a joint statement welcoming Trump's plan, and this does put pressure on Hamas. This war has been deeply destabilizing for the region, Michel. It has left Gaza in ruins with more than 66,000 people killed by Israeli fire there, a third of them children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It was also just this month that Israel bombed Qatar. And reportedly, yesterday, Netanyahu did have to call the Qatari prime minister and express his regret and apologize for that attack.
Now, the Trump plan has some unanswered questions. It would see Trump chairing a board of international experts that oversees a transitional body for Gaza, but we don't know who those experts would be and how they'll be chosen. And the main question is, how will Palestinians be involved in governing Gaza? This plan doesn't say. It also leaves unanswered the question of a future Palestinian state, which Arab states and many Western countries now are demanding and which Israel opposes.
Look, there were no celebrations in Gaza yesterday when this was announced. And the plan states clearly, though, that no one will be forced to leave Gaza and Israel will not annex the territory. But ultimately, Trump made clear yesterday that if Hamas does not accept his deal, Israel would have his backing to do what it wants in Gaza.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Aya, thank you.
BATRAWY: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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