Australia backs Trump-led peace plan in Gaza
Australia’s acting prime minister has thrown his support behind a proposed peace plan for Gaza that could bring the nearly two-year long war to an end.
A US-brokered peace plan offers promise for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages, the Australian government says.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said Australia’s concerns are addressed by the 20-point peace plan offered by the White House, which includes an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and prisoners on both sides and an end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“I do think the plan represents hope,” he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
“We have been calling for a long time for a ceasefire, for the return of hostages, for a flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza because of the humanitarian catastrophe which is unfolding there.
“This plan certainly embraces all of that. In that sense, we would very much hope that all parties ultimately do come on board with this plan, because I think the world wants to see an end to these hostilities.”
Marles said the healing and repair process needed to begin.
“We obviously have been extremely critical of Hamas and their conduct throughout, we have been critical of Israel, but at the end day what we need to see here is an end to the hostilities and this human tragedy being brought to an end,” he said.
The peace plan also includes conditions previously rejected by both sides, and is dependent on Hamas’ agreement – a point that concerns Liberal senator Dave Sharma, who is a former Australian ambassador to Israel.
He says getting Hamas to agree to a peace deal is plausible, but will be a challenge.
“Hamas is being asked to sign its own extinction warrant here,” he told Nine’s Today show on Tuesday.
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“But the leaders are being offered amnesty and a safe passage out of it – exile if you like.
“They’ve lost a lot of their senior military leadership, so it might be an attractive offer to some of them to take.”
Sharma also said there could be other sticking points for Hamas, which Australia has listed as a terrorist organisation.
Hamas has previously demanded Israel withdraw entirely from Gaza before it released hostages.
If enacted, the US-led peace plan would establish a temporary Palestinian governing body supervised by a “board of peace” headed by President Donald Trump.
“This is a big, big day, a beautiful day,” Trump told reporters in Washington alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza has killed almost 62,000 Palestinians, including 18,000 children, according to local health authorities. Photo: AP.
Netanyahu said the US plan achieved his country’s war aims.
“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza,” he told Trump, describing him as the “greatest friend that Israel” has ever had in the White House.
If Hamas doesn’t agree, Trump said Israel would have his full backing “to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas”.
The plan also includes measures to encourage Palestinians to stay in the area and a surge in aid deliveries to Gaza.
The plan’s announcement comes days after Australia joined a clutch of nations to recognise a Palestinian state, amid growing international pressure on Israel to end what a UN inquiry commission has ruled as genocide in Gaza.
Almost 160 members of the 193-strong UN recognise Palestinian statehood, but Trump was vocal against the recognition.
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More than 65,000 people have been killed in Israel’s nearly two-year assault on Gaza, according to the local health ministry, after Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1200 people and took a further 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
A majority of the dead in Gaza are civilians, including an estimated 18,000 children.
Israel rejects any accusations of genocide and denies starvation in the strip as deaths attributed to malnutrition and hunger-related deaths number in the hundreds, according to the Gaza health ministry and the UN.
Trump’s 20-point peace plan envisions ‘New Gaza’
Here are the main elements of the plan that resulted from intense negotiations in recent weeks between Trump and his team, and Israeli and Arab leaders:
– If both sides agree to the proposal, the war will end immediately. Israeli forces will withdraw partially to prepare for a hostage release. All military operations will be suspended and battle lines will be frozen in place until conditions are met for the “complete staged withdrawal” of Israeli forces.
– Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the proposal, all hostages, alive and dead, will be returned. Once all hostages are released, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences plus 1700 Gazans arrested after the start of the conflict on October 7, 2023. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans.
– Once all hostages are freed, members of Hamas “who commit to peaceful co-existence” and give up arms will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided with safe passage to receiving countries.
– Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip, with quantities consistent with the levels mandated under a January 19, 2025, accord. Aid deliveries will proceed without interference from Israel or Hamas through the United Nations and related agencies.
– A “deradicalised” Gaza will not pose a threat to its neighbours and will be “redeveloped” for the benefit of Gazans.
– The Trump plan envisions a “Board of Peace” of international overseers led by Trump himself and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in an undefined role. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a “technocratic, apolitical” committee made up of Palestinians and international experts, to be overseen by the Board of Peace. This group will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until the Palestinian Authority has undergone major reforms.
– A Trump economic development plan to rebuild 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.” A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
– Under the plan, no one will be forced to leave Gaza, which has sustained heavy damage during the war, 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,” the plan says.
– Hamas and other factions would agree to have no role whatsoever in governing Gaza, directly or indirectly. All military infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons production facilities, will be destroyed. Independent monitors will supervise the demilitarisation of Gaza.
– “New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbours,” according to the plan.
– Regional partners will work to ensure that Hamas and related factions comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat.
– The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilisation Force to immediately deploy in Gaza.
– Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. The Israeli Defence Forces will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the International Stabilisation Force.
– The plan is vague on a pathway to Palestinian statehood. It says that while Gaza redevelopment advances and when the Palestinian Authority is reformed, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”
– The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a “political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.”
-with AAP/EFE
