Blueprint, including ‘firm timeline,’ tied to pause in Gaza fighting, says Washington Post; Israel says ‘now is not the time to be speaking about gifts to the Palestinian people’
The US and several Arab partners are preparing a detailed plan for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that includes a “firm timeline” for a Palestinian state, according to a report Thursday, sparking immediate denunciations from senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and a spokesman for the government.
According to the Washington Post report, citing US and Arab officials, an announcement on the blueprint could come in the next few weeks, though the timing is largely dependent on Israel and Hamas being able to reach a deal pausing the fighting in Gaza.
The proposed plan includes steps that Israel has previously refused, including the evacuation of many West Bank settlements, a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and a combined security apparatus and government for the West Bank and Gaza.
The US and its Arab partners are hoping security guarantees and normalization with Arab states like Saudi Arabia can persuade Israel to go along with the plan, the Post reported.
Officials told the Post they hoped to make the plan public once Israel and Hamas agree to a temporary truce aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and freeing the 134 hostages still held by terror groups in the Strip.
According to the report, during the pause, steps would be taken toward implementation of the proposal, including forming an interim Palestinian government that could also rule over Gaza.
In response to the report, a spokesman for the Israeli government said that now is not the time to be discussing plans for the “day after” Hamas.
“Here in Israel, we are still in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre,” said Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Avi Hyman in a briefing. “Now is not the time to be speaking about gifts to the Palestinian people, at a time when the Palestinian Authority themselves have yet to even condemn the October 7 massacre.”
END TIMES PROPHECY WATCH 
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