Los Ángeles.- The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Sunday that this week “should be completed” the first phase of his plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip and define the future of the Palestinian enclave, and urged all parties involved to work promptly.
“I have been told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I ask everyone to act quickly… Time is crucial or there will be a massive bloodbath, something that no one wants to see,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
The U.S. president changed the threatening tone of this Sunday morning when he said in an interview with CNN that Hamas faces “total annihilation” if it refuses to cede control of Gaza, as stipulated in his plan.
In contrast, Trump said this afternoon that the talks have been “very successful and are moving quickly,” and he expects the negotiating and mediating teams to meet again this Monday in Egypt to finalize and clarify details.
The White House’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Cairo (Egypt) yesterday, Saturday, to advance negotiations on the peace plan before its implementation.
“This weekend, very positive conversations have been held with Hamas and countries around the world (Arab, Muslim, and all other countries) to release the hostages, end the war in Gaza, and, even more importantly, finally achieve peace in the Middle East, as has been sought for a long time,” the leader insisted.
Hamas announced on Friday that it accepts the release of all hostages as stipulated in the Trump plan, although it demanded “to provide the conditions on the ground for the exchange process”.
In turn, Israel agreed this Saturday to an “initial withdrawal line” of its army in Gaza, which signified a step forward for the US president’s project to bring peace to the region.
The Republican president’s 20-point plan proposes the immediate end of the war, the release of the Hamas hostages, and the formation of a transitional government for Gaza, overseen by the US president and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The proposal also contemplates the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the possibility of negotiating a Palestinian state in the future, something ruled out, however, by the Israeli prime minister.
