Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha set in motion the series of events that led to the 20-point Gaza peace plan that was unveiled by US President Donald Trump on Monday, Channel 12 News correspondent Barak Ravid reported.
According to the report, which cited four officials, initially, Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were shocked and angered by the attack, but soon saw this crisis as an opportunity to end the war by combining the efforts to end the resulting diplomatic crisis with Qatar with efforts to bring the war to a permanent end.
"The failed attack in Doha changed the regional dynamic and opened the door to a real discussion on how to end the war in Gaza," said a senior American official.
Witkoff and Kushner reportedly took the existing American proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal and combined it with a plan for the “day after” that Kushner had worked on with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The result was the 21-point document.
President Trump and Witkoff were able to present the plan to Arab leaders during the UN General Assembly in New York last week. The Arab leaders were reportedly impressed with the plan and provided feedback before signing on to a revised version.
According to the report, the Trump Administration presented the plan to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Thursday, but remained concerned that Netanyahu would reject it. One source claimed that Trump told Netanyahu: "Take it or leave. If you leave, we're leaving you."
Netanyahu made his own suggestions, some of which Trump accepted, and others he rejected. The changes that were accepted were those meant to appease the more right-wing members of Netanyahu's coalition, who have openly criticized the peace plan. However, Trump stated that he would give Israel his full backing if Netanyahu accepted the deal and Hamas rejected it.
One of the sources stated: "Netanyahu knew what he had to do. In the end, he didn't resist. He deserves credit: When he realized he had to do it, he did it."
Netanyahu stood with Trump when the President unveiled the plan on Monday.
During the joint press conference, Netanyahu told Trump: "From Jerusalem to Tehran, from the Golan Heights to Gaza, you have proven time and again, what I've said many times: you are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House."
Netanyahu declared that "I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims. It will bring back to Israel all our hostages, dismantle Hamas's military capabilities and its political rule, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel."
"We would not have achieved this turning point without the courage and sacrifice of our incredibly brave soldiers. They fight like lions to defend the people of Israel, and they serve on the front line of the war between civilization and barbarism," he added.
The 20-point plan includes the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, and a post-war governing mechanism for the Strip without Hamas, secured by a force comprising Palestinians alongside soldiers from Arab and Muslim countries.
Arab and Muslim states would fund Gaza’s new administration and reconstruction, with some involvement of the Palestinian Authority.