“Israel braces for reality as Hamas rejects disarmament and Arab states dodge responsibility for Gaza.”
US President Donald Trump is preparing a dramatic Christmas-season announcement: the rollout of Phase Two of his Gaza peace initiative, which includes a new governing architecture for the enclave, Axios reported Thursday. The move is being framed in Washington as the crown jewel of Trump’s second-term foreign policy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to fly to the US before month’s end to discuss the plan. Trump told Netanyahu in a Monday call that he expects him to act as a “better partner” in advancing the Gaza initiative — a signal of growing American impatience.
What Phase Two Proposes
The next stage hinges on several sweeping steps:
- Further Israeli withdrawal from parts of Gaza
- Deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF)
- A new governing hierarchy led by Trump’s “Board of Peace”, already authorized by the UN Security Council
- An executive board including Tony Blair, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and senior international officials
- A Palestinian Arab technocratic administration, made up of professionals with no ties to Hamas or Fatah
Roughly half of the proposed 25 technocratic candidates have been rejected, while the remaining nominees may return to Gaza to form the governing core.
Countries expressing willingness to contribute troops to the ISF include Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Turkey — though none has yet committed to directly facing Hamas’s armed presence.
A Western source told Axios the entire structure is nearing completion:
“Everything is well-advanced… we aim to announce before the holidays.”
The Central Problem: Hamas Will Not Disarm
Behind closed doors, the US, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey have been negotiating a formula under which Hamas would relinquish power and begin staged disarmament — heavy weapons first, then small arms.
But Hamas has not agreed.
Netanyahu remains highly skeptical despite diplomatic pressure. One source summarized Israel’s stance:
“The IDF out of Gaza only works if Hamas is fully out of power.”
The coming weeks are described as the “moment of truth.”
White House Messaging
A senior US official confirmed further announcements “very soon,” emphasizing that the administration is racing to implement Trump’s historic 20-point Gaza plan, which Washington insists will bring stability to the region.
But Reality on the Ground Is Different
Channel 12’s political analyst Amit Segal delivered a harsh assessment: Trump’s peace initiative is “on life support.”
Segal warns:
- Hamas refuses to disarm
- No foreign country is willing to confront Hamas on the ground
- Only the IDF is capable of restoring order
He argues that renewed fighting may be inevitable and says Israel should “give it a few months,” allowing Trump’s “fantasies” to collapse under their own weight until the unavoidable truth becomes clear: there is no substitute for Israeli military action if Hamas remains armed and entrenched.
Trump, meanwhile, faces a political dilemma. After branding the plan “historic” and “transformational,” how does he retreat if the project collapses? Segal suggests this is precisely the corner the administration is now backed into.
