'Path to Lasting Peace': PM Modi Hails Trump's Gaza Plan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday welcomed US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict. He said that the detailed plan provides a viable pathway to long-term and sustainable peace, security and development for the Palestinian and Israeli people, as also for the larger West Asian region."We hope that all concerned will come together behind President Trump’s initiative and support this effort to end conflict and secure peace," he said.Foreign ministers of eight Arab and Muslim majority countries welcomed US President Donald Trump’s vision for ending the war in Gaza and restoring peace to the region, even as the Hamas terror group, which must agree to the deal for it to be fully implemented, had yet to issue a response.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump's 20-point plan to end the war in a video statement from Washington, where, earlier in the day, he gave the stamp of approval to the proposal.

Addressing a press conference with Netanyahu by his side, the US President said that if the plan is also accepted by Hamas, the proposal calls for the release of all captives within 72 hours."The captives are coming back. … The bodies of the young men are coming back immediately," Trump said."Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas but I hope that we're going to have a deal for peace and if Hamas rejects the deal, which is always possible, they're the only one left. Everyone else has accepted it but I have a feeling that we're going to have a positive answer," Trump added.In a video statement later in the day, Netanyahu claimed the Trump plan will allow the IDF to remain in Gaza, and also ruled out Palestinian statehood."Now the whole world, including the Arab and Muslim world, is pressuring Hamas to accept the terms that we created together with Trump, to bring back all the hostages — the living and the dead — while the IDF stays in the Strip," he said, according to Times of Israel.Netanyahu's remarks on IDF, however, appeared to misrepresent a portion of Trump’s plan, which was published online by the White House. The 20-point plan by Trump does not envision the IDF remaining in the Strip indefinitely, but rather withdrawing gradually and handing over to an international security force.In the video, Netanyahu is also seen ruling out the establishment of a Palestinian state.