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President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday that he wants Israel to start taking steps to put the Gaza peace plan into action, two people familiar with the conversation said, according to Axios, which first reported the call on Sunday.
Netanyahu initiated the call, a source familiar with the conversation said, and it was described as constructive. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump adviser Jared Kushner and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff joined the discussion, which also touched on the war in Iran. The White House and Netanyahu's office did not respond to requests for comment.
The push comes after months in which implementation of the plan had stalled, in part because of Israel's election on October 27. Trump's team had held back while the campaign was under way, wary of turning the Gaza framework into a political fight inside Israel, and the president backed Netanyahu shortly before the vote. With the election over, Trump now wants the process to move ahead regardless of whether Netanyahu or his rivals end up leading the next government. The vote left the Knesset deadlocked, and Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, has chosen Gadi Eisenkot, the former military chief of staff who leads the Yashar party, to try to form a new government.
The plan envisions Hamas giving up its weapons, Gaza being demilitarized and the territory eventually being handed to a new Palestinian technocratic government. A Board of Peace set up under the agreement has been working on the next phase, including plans for the Palestinian technocratic administration and an International Stabilization Force.
The framework is Trump's broader 20-point Gaza formula. Israel and Hamas agreed to its first phase last year, which produced a ceasefire in the war and secured the release of the last 20 living hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attacks. Last July, the board reached an understanding with Hamas on a 15-point arrangement meant to move armed groups out of Gaza and shift civilian and security authority to the new Palestinian body.
Netanyahu's government has largely held back from carrying it out, driven in large part by domestic politics and the prime minister's deep skepticism that Hamas will actually disarm. In August, Kushner traveled to Israel and told Netanyahu that Hamas had, for the first time, agreed to disarm, pressing the Israeli leader to take steps that would test whether the commitment was real. Netanyahu remained unconvinced, warning that Hamas was rebuilding and rearming in Gaza.
Over the past three months, the Board of Peace has worked with Israeli officials and military leaders to refine the details and address Israeli concerns about how demilitarization would work. A U.S. official said the process would unfold gradually, with reconstruction beginning only after verified progress on disarming Hamas. In September, the board unveiled a six-month, $2.45 billion initial recovery plan for Gaza during the U.N. General Assembly, a 66-project proposal laying out one of the most detailed blueprints yet for the early phase of postwar recovery and governance.
On Friday, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who serves on the Board of Peace, was in Israel meeting with Netanyahu and Eisenkot, urging Israeli leaders to give the plan a chance, a source familiar with the visit said.
The plan still depends on cooperation from both Israel and Hamas. A source familiar with the discussions said Trump's team, the Board of Peace and Israel all view it as the best path available and see no serious alternative. Critics question whether Hamas will disarm, whether Israel will accept the proposed governance structure, and whether the plan can deliver lasting peace without addressing broader Palestinian political concerns.