Gaza Ceasefire Details Revealed as Netanyahu Visits White House

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to visit the White House on Monday for the third time in President Trump's second term, Associated Press has obtained a copy of the latest ceasefire proposal -- which now incorporates a personal guarantee from Trump that Israel won't violate this ceasefire as it did a previous one.

Contrary to the wishes of Hamas, the proposed arrangement is a truce rather than an assured permanent end to the war, which has killed at least 55,000 people, according to Gaza's health authority, while rendering much of the territory uninhabitable. Here are the key provisions reported by AP:

• The deal centers on a 60-day ceasefire, during which Hamas would transfer 10 living captives to Israel along with 18 dead ones. It's believed Hamas is still holding upwards of 25 living hostages.

• While the ceasefire is going, the Israel Defense Forces would withdraw from Gaza to a buffer zone along the territory's Israeli and Egyptian borders.

• During that time, a major increase in humanitarian aid would flow into Gaza. Notably, it would be distributed by United Nations organizations and the Palestinian Red Cross. Since late May, a shadowy group led by a pro-Israel American evangelical who's a mutual friend of Trump and Netanyahu -- the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation -- has been taking the lead on aid distribution. The group and IDF have faced withering condemnation during that time, as hundreds of Palestinians have been killed at the distribution points, with IDF soldiers confirming they've been using deadly weapons as a barbaric form of crowd control.

• Also the ceasefire, negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place.

One of the more interesting elements of the proposal is its inclusion of Trump's personal guarantee of Israel's compliance with the 60-day ceasefire. “President Trump guarantees Israel’s adherence," the document reads, noting that Trump "will personally announce the ceasefire agreement.” Israel violated the last ceasefire in March, resuming its attacks and blockading humanitarian aid. That prompted Yemen's Houthis to resume their attacks on Israeli-linked shipping and other targets, which in turn led to the United States engaging in a large and expensive military operation against the Houthis that will best be remembered for two F/A 18 Super Hornets ending up at the bottom of the sea.

Talking to reporters beside Air Force One on Sunday, Trump sounded optimistic notes: "I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the coming week, pertaining to quite a few of the hostages....We think we'll have that done this week." On Friday, Hamas announced that it had delivered a "positive" response to the latest US-backed ceasefire and hostage release proposal.

“There are 20 hostages that are alive, 30 dead. I am determined, we are determined, to bring them all back. And we will also be determined to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” said Netanyahu before leaving Israel for the United States.

While the international community and some domestic elements are pressuring him to secure a permanent ceasefire, Netanyahu faces intense pressure from within his own ruling coalition to continue the war. On Sunday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lashed out at Netanyahu after the cabinet decided to allow more aid to flow into the besieged, diseased and malnourished territory, saying it would route of the aid "also benefits Hamas." In January, Smotrich threatened to collapse Netanyahu's government by withdrawing his Religious Zionism Party if Netanyahu ended the war without completely eradicating Hamas as a political and military force in Gaza.

You can also expect the public elements of Netanyahu's White House visit to include an emphatic round of self-congratulations in the wake of last month's Israel-initiated war on Iran, which was launched just two days before US and Iranian delegations were set to conduct their sixth round of negotiations over the country's nuclear program, which Iran insists is peaceful -- a claim that's been repeatedly echoed by the US intelligence community since 2007.

As the experience of several foreign leaders has shown, however, Oval Office visits hold the possibility of public embarrassment. That risk to Netanyahu may be elevated on Monday, as Trump has faced widespread social media ridicule from a significant swath of the American right, which views him as being easily manipulated and disrespected by Netanyahu. He could view the public session as a chance to demonstrate dominance. This was Trump when he was told Israel was immediately violating the ceasefire that ended last month's 12-day war:

On his last visit in April, Netanyahu had to sit and endure Trump's public announcement that the United States would engage in direct discussions with Iran. It's been reported that Netanyahu had used that visit to pitch Trump on assaulting Iran, an idea Trump rejected. According to some accounts, Netanyahu in June unilaterally decided to attack Iran anyway, with Trump then bending to Israel's agenda and providing military support.

Trump seems eager to "move on" from the war on Iran. However, with the toppling of the Iranian government having been a goal of Netanyahu and his US allies for decades now, we can expect he'll use his visit to continue trying to maneuver Trump into breaking his campaign pledge to refrain from Middle East regime-change operations.