Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a move that was considered a distant possibility given the Israeli military’s intensified attacks in the Palestinian enclave.

“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza,” the prime minister told Trump in a bilateral press conference, saying the proposal “achieves our war aims.”

The White House released the peace plan just minutes before the press conference, in which it said the “war will immediately end” if both Israel and Hamas agree to the proposed actions. Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza in phases to prepare for the exchange of all remaining hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, which would occur 72 hours after agreeing to the proposal.

All military operations would be suspended during the above process. Netanyahu said that his soldiers in Gaza have been “on the front line in the war between civilisation and barbarism,” a dog whistle used by some Israeli officials that further dehumanises Palestinians.

Trump said that the US drafted the proposal with support and input from Arab and Muslim countries, though........

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