On Tuesday 30 September, European leaders welcomed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a peace plan for the Middle East.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is said to have given his agreement, while later, in a video, going back over certain points in the 20-point plan. The position of Hamas is not yet known.
According to the plan, which mentions the creation of a Palestinian state, if both parties - Israel and Hamas - accept it, “the war will end immediately” and within 72 hours of Israel’s public acceptance. All hostages must be returned. In return, the Hebrew State will release 250 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,700 Gazans detained after 7 October 2023.
In addition, “complete” aid will be delivered to the Gaza Strip “immediately”.
The enclave, which “no one will be forced to leave”, will be governed under the temporary transitional authority of a “technocratic and non-political” Palestinian committee, under the supervision and control of a ‘Peace Committee’ directed and chaired, in particular, by President Trump. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and revitalise Gaza will be drawn up.
Hamas and other factions will commit to no further role in the governance of Gaza and the US will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary ‘International Stabilization Force’ (ISF) for rapid deployment (see EUROPE 13715/14). As the ISF establishes control and stabilisation, the Israeli army will withdraw.
Support from the EU. On the X social network, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, encouraged all parties to seize the opportunity presented by the plan. “The EU is ready to contribute”, announced Ms von der Leyen and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas. According to the latter, this plan “is the best immediate chance of ending the war”.
“This is a pivotal moment, which could finally put an end to the intergenerational cycle of bloodshed, terror and violence. There is a clear alternative to perpetual war. It must be seized”, said the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, on X.
Both Ms von der Leyen and Mr Costa stressed the importance of an end to hostilities and the immediate release of all hostages. “A two-state solution remains the only viable path to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East”, they added.
RWB calls for the Association Agreement to be suspended. The situation in the Middle East could be raised this Wednesday at the informal European Council in Copenhagen. Ahead of the meeting, Reporters Without Borders and 16 other NGOs called on Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, which are reluctant to take measures against the Jewish state, to support the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement “in the light of the atrocities against journalists and the media blackout” in Gaza. At least 210 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Palestinian enclave since 7 October 2023, including at least 56 targeted because of their journalistic work, according to these organisations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)