After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, US President Donald Trump said the leaders were “close” to achieving peace in the Middle East.“At the very least, at a minimum very, very close,” Trump said during a joint news conference at the White House.He outlined his new 20-point plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza and secure the release of Israeli captives still being held in the Palestinian territory. Diplomatic sources have told Al Jazeera that Hamas’s negotiating team is studying Trump’s plan to end the war.Here are the key takeaways:Trump thanks Netanyahu for agreeing to the plan“Thank you very much, everybody. This is a big, big day, a beautiful day, potentially one of the great days ever in civilisation,” Trump said as the news conference started.“And I’m not just talking about Gaza. Gaza is one thing, but we’re talking about much beyond Gaza. The whole deal, everything getting solved. It’s called peace in the Middle East,” he added.“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I have just concluded an important meeting on many vital issues, including Iran, trade, the expansion of the Abraham Accords, and, most importantly, we discussed how to end the war in Gaza, but it’s just a part of the bigger picture, which is peace in the Middle East, and let’s call it eternal peace in the Middle East,” Trump said.He thanked Netanyahu and leaders from the Middle East, as well as Turkiye, Indonesia, Pakistan and Europe. US President Donald Trump [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]Trump introduces his planTrump introduced his plan to end the war, noting that many countries had contributed to its development. Advertisement “This afternoon, after extensive consultation with our friends and partners throughout the region, I’m formally releasing our principles for peace, which people hav …
