THE TRUMP PEACE PLAN

Donald Trump & Benjamin Netanyahu

Peace Emerges in The Middle East

On 9 October, the Wall Street Journal reported on President Trump’s announcement that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a deal for the release of all Israeli hostages as the first step toward what Trump called “A Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace”. On a post in his Truth Social site he said, “This is a GREAT DAY for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, all surrounding nations and the United States of America”.[i]

Writing in The Times, Gerard Baker observed that “Only Donald Trump could have pulled it off”, referring to Trump’s “towering self-belief in his powers of dealmaking”. As Baker said, “When the president decides he wants to move diplomatic mountains, he faces no resistance” and “No Republican president in the last half-century has enjoyed such a level of trust”.[ii]

The ceasefire began at noon on Friday 10^th (8:00 PM AEDT) with a 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release all 20 surviving hostages. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff credited Netanyahu for getting the deal over the line saying that Netanyahu had “Made some very difficult calls, and lesser people would not have made those calls”. Trump remarked that “It was amazing that the Arab world had united behind the peace plan including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia”. US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio commented that no other US president in the modern era could have secured the agreement and this deal would go down “as an historic moment in the history of our country”.[iii]

The Hostages Are Freed and Return to Israel

A jubilant Israel celebrated the sight of the hostages coming home on Monday, 13 October, after more than two years in brutal captivity. President Trump received a standing ovation at the Israeli Knesset and was told that he would be remembered as “A giant of Jewish history”. “This is not only the end of war. It is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith” Trump told the MPs present, adding, “It will be the golden age of Israel and the golden age of the Middle East”. He praised Netanyahu as a man of exceptional courage and patriotism. He also praised the work of Israel’s Middle East neighbours.

Netanyahu hailed Trump as the “Greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”. Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hostages Square to celebrate the release of the hostages. Their release was followed by the Israel’s release of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners including 250 who were serving life sentences. Only four of the 28 dead hostages were returned with Hamas claiming they were unable to locate the bodies of several. After addressing the Knesset Trump flew to Egypt to co-chair the summit on the next steps in the peace process.[iv]

How Rapidly the Situation Changed

As recently as 26 September, Netanyahu stood before a largely empty United Nations General Assembly reminding those present that during the past year, Israel had hammered the Houthis, crushed the bulk of the Hamas terror machine, crippled Hezbollah, destroyed Assad’s armaments in Syria, deterred Iran’s Shiite militias in Iraq and devastated Iran’s atomic weapons.

Hamas had vowed to repeat the atrocities of 7 October, again and again. That, said Netanyahu is why Israel must finish the job. Netanyahu called on the remaining Hamas leaders to lay down their arm and to let his people go saying, “If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down. If Hamas agrees to our demands, the war could end right now”.

Leaders of France, Britain, Australia, Canada and Portugal had unconditionally recognised a Palestinian state – rewarding the worst anti-Semites after the horrors of 7 October. Those nations claimed to believe in a two-state solution but, as Netanyahu said, “There is only one problem – the Palestinians don’t want a state next to Israel. They want a Palestinian state instead of Israel”.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Winston Peters[v] called for courageous leadership saying, where is the quality of leadership that can pull Israel and the Palestinians back from the abyss. Although New Zealand supports a two-state solution, they do not believe the current situation represented the best chance for a two-state solution, and “At present there is no viable State of Palestine to recognise and Palestine does not meet the accepted criteria for a state”.

The Peace Plan

Then, on Monday, 29 September, President Trump proposed a US-backed Gaza peace plan offering a roadmap to end the war in Gaza. The plan provided for the war to end immediately and all hostages, alive and deceased to be returned within 72 hours, with Israel to release around 2,000 Gazans. Hamas members who committed to peaceful coexistence would be given amnesty and those who wished to leave Gaza would be provided safe passage.  Aid would immediately be distributed through the United Nations.

Gaza would be governed by a committee with oversight by a “Board of Peace” chaired by President Trump and others, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. A plan to rebuild Gaza would be developed, but Hamas would have no role in the governance of Gaza.

The US with Arab and international partners would develop an International Stabilization Force (ISF) and as stability was established the Israel Defence Forces would withdraw and progressively hand Gaza over to the ISF. Once the PA reform program was carried out, conditions might then be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.

Trump said the plan aimed to bring “eternal peace to the Middle East” but he warned that he would give the green light to Israel to “Do what you would have to do” if the terrorist group refused to agree to the plan. The Foreign Ministers of Arab and Muslim nations including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt issued a joint statement welcoming Trump’s “Sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza and their confidence in his ability to find a path to peace”.[vi]

Sceptics and Doubters

The Telegraph asked, what chance was there of the plan working? Ever since the United Nations voted to confirm the creation of the State of Israel in 1947, the country has been locked in conflict. Nevertheless, the new plan was the best to have been produced since the war began and “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”.[vii]

Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto whose country has the largest Muslim population in the world said, “We must also recognise, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then can we have a real peace”. He ended with the word “Shalom”.[viii]

A Positive Response to the Peace Plan

On Friday, 3 October, Hamas said it would release all hostages as it continued negotiations over the plan while Netanyahu said Israel was preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the plan.

Egypt and Qatar pressed Hamas to accept the deal, declaring that Hamas would have no role in a post-war Gaza and they would have to disarm. Egypt’s Foreign Minister  insisted that there was “complete agreement” among Arab and Muslim countries that Hamas must not be included in any post-war governance, adding that Hamas was “Well aware that they have no role in the future”.[ix]

A Few More Words About Israel

Genocide

As to the  accusation of “genocide”, the head of urban warfare studies, Colonel John Spencer has said, “Israel is applying more measures to minimize civilian casualties than any military in history” and he described the number of non-combatant casualties as astoundingly low. Much the same has been said by others including retired British Col Richard Kemp and the respected journalist and author, Douglas Murray. As Mark Leach, founder of Never Again is Now wrote on 26 September, “The war in Gaza is not nearly as devastating in terms of loss of life as the concurrent wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Syria”. Israel dropped millions of leaflets in Gaza City sending text messages and making phone calls urging civilians to leave before its military moved in, instead Hamas implants itself in mosques, schools, hospitals and apartment buildings, trying to force civilians not to leave, threatening them at gunpoint. Would a country committing genocide plead with the civilian population to get out of harm’s way?

Benjamin Netanyahu

Noone has had the guts to admit that defeating Hamas was always going to involve terrible suffering in a diabolically complex theatre of war where the civilian population is locked in as human shields. Speaking at the UN Gen Assembly, as dozens staged a walkout, Netanyahu remarked “For many countries here, when the going got tough, you caved!”  Netanyahu will emerge as the leader who delivered peace through strength. The UN Gen assembly walkout did not condemn Netanyahu – on the contrary, it demonstrated his steel.[x]

When the Lion Roared

Netanyahu did not just walk to the podium – he entered like the Lion of Judah, carrying 3,000 years of history and survival in his chest, roaring with thunder. They didn’t “walkout – they fled like scavengers from a storm”. They walked out in 1947 when Jews said yes to partition and Arabs said no with bullets. They walked out in 2001 when offered 97% of the land but the hyenas wanted 100% and Israel erased them. When the Israelis removed the Jews from Gaza in 2005 the Palestinians responded by building rockets and launching a death cult instead of a country. They walked out of every chance for peace. When Israel offered peace, the Palestinians offered blood and the UN cheered.[xi]

Not Too Late to Restore Australia’s Moral Centre

Doc Evatt, the Australian Labor minister helped steer the UN vote to create Israel in 1948 calling it “An inevitable and just voice to stand with the Jewish people of the world and their vision of a Jewish state and a place of sanctuary where they would never again face persecution”. Evatt’s government opened Australia’s doors to thousands of refugees and Holocaust survivors. Australia did not simply follow “like-minded countries” but, in 1991 Australia led the global campaign to ensure that UN Resolution 3379, “Zionism is racism” was consigned to the garbage bin of history. By appearing to be balanced in its criticism of Israel and Hamas, an openly genocidal terror movement, the Albanese government shamefully failed to get the balance right.[xii]

John Adams, the second President of the US wrote of the Jews, “They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this earth. They have influenced the affairs of mankind more than any other nation, ancient or modern.” Thomas Cahill wrote, “The Jews started it all, the underlying values that make all of us tick. Without the Jews we would see the world through different eyes, hear with different ears and feel with different feelings”.[xiii] 

AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM – HEAR THE OTHER SIDE

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[i] WSJ, Blessed are the Peacemakers, 9 Oct, 25

[ii] The Times, Only Donald Trump could have pulled this off, 10 Oct 25

[iii] The Australian (AU), Gaza ceasefire starts as Israel approves deal, 10 Oct 25

[iv] AU, Beautiful Day with historic return of Hostages, 14 Oct 25

[v] Winston Peters, speaking at the UN General Assembly, 27 Sept 25

[vi] Trump's audacious Gazar start up, The Australian, 1 Oct 25

[vii] Can Trump's Gaza plan really work? The Telegraph, 29 Sept 2025

[viii] Times of Israel, Qatar, Jordan denounced Netanyahu. Indonesia says "Shalom", 24 Sept 25

[ix] The Australian, Hamas agrees to free Israeli hostages, hand over Gaza control,4 Oct 25

[x] Julie Szego in The Australian, Bibi’s iron fist, 4 Oct 25

[xi] Voice of Zion, The UN Walkout,  28 Sept 25

[xii] Mark Leibler, The Australian, 4 Oct 25

[xiii] Greg Sheridan, The Australian, demolishing demented Western anti-Semitism, 4/10/25