NEW YORK — The US proposal for ending the war in Gaza encourages Palestinians to remain in the Strip and provides for the creation of a pathway to a future Palestinian state, according to a copy of the plan obtained by The Times of Israel.

The 21-point document shared by the US with a handful of Arab and Muslim countries earlier this week on the United Nations General Assembly sidelines also contains clauses that have been staples in various proposals crafted by different stakeholders in recent months — from the release of all hostages to Hamas’s removal from power.

But the decision to explicitly encourage Palestinians to remain in Gaza caps off a major evolution for Washington on the issue, given that US President Donald Trump in February shocked much of the world with talk of the US taking over Gaza and permanently relocating its entire population of roughly two million people.

Those remarks gave significant tailwind to the idea among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners and even among more moderate Israeli political figures who have since worked actively to “encourage the voluntary migration” of Gazans, albeit with no success to date.

Moreover, the proposal’s envisioning of a potential pathway to a future Palestinian state, after Gaza’s redevelopment has advanced and the Palestinian Authority’s reform has been completed, also appears to be a major departure from the Trump administration’s policy to date, given that it has avoided expressing backing for a two-state solution.

The plan obtained by The Times of Israel — and authenticated by two sources familiar with the matter — even sees the US establishing a dialogue with Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a “political horizon” for “peaceful coexistence.”

While those terms are major selling points for the Palestinians, the proposal, crafted largely by US special envoy Steve Witkoff — and poised to be fine-tuned in the coming days — also includes clauses that Israel has long demanded.

Those include a commitment for Hamas to disarm, the demilitarization of Gaza and the establishment of a process to de-radicalize the population.

The exact sequencing for these steps isn’t specified, but it appears that they are intended to come into effect in parallel with the ending of the war.

Those requirements will likely make the proposal a difficult sell to Hamas, and the plan’s creation of a potential pathway to a future Palestinian state could well be a red line for Netanyahu, who has long campaigned on having prevented a two-state solution. The Israeli premier told the UN General Assembly on Friday: “Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7th is like giving Al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York........

© The Times of Israel