Three phases of around forty days each to move from a temporary ceasefire to lasting peace in Gaza: here is the Israeli proposal, as presented Friday by Joe Biden, to end nearly eight months of conflict .
The American president indicated that the draft agreement had been transmitted to Hamas on Thursday.
A senior American official spoke to him about a “detailed agreement of four and a half pages”, which would correspond, with a few “minor adjustments”, to what the Palestinian movement has already said it is ready to accept.
Phase 1: a total ceasefire
This first phase includes a total ceasefire of six weeks, accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. “Some” Israeli hostages – women and elderly, injured or sick people – are released, and some bodies returned to their families. The American president promised that the last hostages with American nationality would then return “home”.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are released. The truce allows the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, or at least what remains of them after months of intense Israeli bombardment.
Humanitarian aid, which until now has never managed to arrive in sufficient quantities, is “increasing sharply”, reaching 600 trucks per day.
Phase 2: the end of the war
The precise contours of this second phase will, according to Joe Biden, be negotiated during the first six-week ceasefire. He clarified that hostilities would not resume as long as discussions continued.
In the event of successful negotiations, the fighting stops definitively and all Israelis still detained in Gaza return home, including Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces completely withdraw from the territory.
A senior US official said each phase of the plan was expected to last around 40 days.
Phase 3: rebuild Gaza
A vast plan to rebuild Gaza is launched, with the support of the United States and the international community. Construction on hospitals, schools and homes begins. A senior American official estimated that it will take 3 to 5 years to rebuild the territory.
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Everything is being done, according to Joe Biden, so that Hamas cannot reconstitute its attack capabilities, and this with the intervention of regional partners. The last remains of Israeli hostages are returned to their families.
