Israel approved the first phase of the peace plan. Right hand dissatisfied

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's law firm announced that Israeli negotiators had agreed to the first phase of the agreement during talks in Egypt, held on Wednesday night for Thursday. However, the decision required the acceptance of the Israeli government. Ministers approved it on Friday night after a multi-hour meeting, preceded by the safety cabinet deliberations.

The first phase of the agreement drawn up by US president Donald Trump envisages the suspension of armed action and the start of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli armed forces are to retreat to the designated line within 24 hours. According to the media, after this stage, Israel will control about 53 percent of Palestinian territory, giving up its presence in the area of the previously besieged city of Gaza. Currently, the Israeli army holds control of at least 75 percent of the Gaza Strip.

Good plan, but besides general

The plan in its first part besides involves the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and detainees after the outbreak of the war. The Ynet portal reported that the issue of the release of Palestinian prisoners was extensively discussed at a gathering of the Israeli government. Many of the people to be released were previously convicted of organizing terrorist attacks resulting in dozens of Israeli citizens being killed.

The next points of Donald Trump's plan include, among others, the disarmament of Hamas and the transfer of power to the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian Interim Administration operating under global supervision, as well as the start of the enclave reconstruction process. These issues have not yet been discussed. According to reports from the Catharic media, talks on this issue are to begin the day after the release of the hostages.

The proposal is considered to be the most serious effort so far to end the conflict in Gaza in almost 2 years. As the analysis of AP and New York Times, however, the plan contains unclear and general provisions which may impede its adoption by the parties to the conflict and thus hold the end of the fighting.

Israel’s right hand opposes

Becall Smotricz, leader of the right-wing spiritual organization Zionism and associate of the ruling coalition of Netanjah, critically referred to the agreement. However, he did not announce measures to block the agreement. The Israeli right-wing had previously called for the annexation of the Gaza Strip, reconstruction of judaic settlements in this area and the resettlement of Palestinians.

The agreement received support from leaders of the Israeli opposition: Jair Lapid, Beni Ganc and Awigdor Liberman, as well as the largest association of families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.