Netanyahu The Biggest Obstacle To Trump’s Gaza Plan – OpEd |
By Osama Al-Sharif
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was never on board when US President Donald Trump announced his 20-point Gaza peace plan, which led to the Oct. 10 ceasefire agreement. He has resisted pressure to honor Israel’s commitments under phase one of the plan: allowing the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid and stopping the killing of Palestinians in Gaza. More than 450 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect. And Israel has prevented the entry of the caravans and shelter needed to protect tens of thousands of displaced Gazans from the bitter cold that has swept the region for weeks. Infants have died of cold and exposure as a result.
Netanyahu was equally unhappy with Trump’s idea of establishing a “Board of Peace” to oversee the implementation of his plan, including the naming of a Palestinian national committee to run the enclave and inviting international troops to serve as a stabilization force in Gaza.
When Trump unveiled the four-tier structure of his Board of Peace this month — with an executive committee, a Palestinian national committee, a US general to head the stabilization force and a high commissioner to liaise between the Palestinian technocratic body and the executive committee — Netanyahu found himself cornered. Trump had stripped him of leverage regarding the fate of the Palestinian enclave. The US president also........