Trump reveals phone call that pushed Netanyahu to accept Gaza ceasefire: ‘This is your chance for victory’

Donald Trump told an Israeli news outlet that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted his plan for a ceasefire with Hamas during a decisive phone call.

This comes as Israel has expressed support for an end to the conflict and paused their bombing campaigns in Gaza.

‘Netanyahu had reservations but I told him that this is his opportunity for victory,’ Trump told Israeli television’s Channel 12 on Saturday. ‘He accepted it. There is no other choice, with me you have to be okay.’

‘Bibi went too far in Gaza and Israel lost a lot of support in the world,’ Trump added. ‘Now I will bring back all that support.’

This phone call reportedly happened on Friday, the same day Hamas signaled that was ready to negotiate the release of all their Israeli hostages.

Hamas, a designated terrorist organization that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, also said it is ready to cede governing control to ‘a Palestinian authority of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and with reliance on Arab and Islamic support’.

And on Saturday afternoon, Trump revealed that Israel had accepted an initial withdrawal line, a plan that has been shared with Hamas as well.

‘When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal, which will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are traveling to Egypt this weekend to begin hammering out the particulars of the hostage release plan with Hamas, CNN reported.

The 20-point plan from the Trump administration has not been fully agreed to by Hamas.

Hamas will be expected to release all the hostages, while Israel will have to ‘release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023, including all women and children detained in that context’.

Trump is also ordering Israel to resume ‘full aid’ into the Gaza Strip even if Hamas ends up rejecting the proposal.

Perhaps the most important parts of the proposal state that Israel is not to ‘occupy or annex Gaza’ and that no one who lives in Gaza ‘will be forced to leave’.

This is quite the departure from Trump’s initial plan to have the United States own Gaza and redevelop it to make it the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’.

However, the plan did say there would be a ‘Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza’.

A potential sticking point for Israel is that there is a possibility that Palestinians will be allowed to form a state without Hamas in charge.

Netanyahu has maintained his across-the-board opposition to a Palestinian state.

Hamas, on the other hand, could take issue with the fact that Israel Defense Forces might not have to leave Gaza until the area is demilitarized and the hostages are handed over.

Hamas has long said that it will not hand over the hostages until Israel fully withdraws and commits to a permanent end to the war.

Negotiations on the peace plan are expected to begin on Monday in Egypt. 

The next day, Tuesday, will be the two-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks, during which Hamas fighters staged a surprise invasion of southern Israel.

About 1,200 civilians were killed and thousands more were thousands more injured, raped and brutalized. Hundreds of hostages were taken by Hamas, of which Israel estimates just 20 remain alive.