Former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice praised President Trump on Friday successfully facilitate first steps of a armistice agreement With Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“This is a really important first step, and I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders from the region, for committing to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what is often called the day after tomorrow,” Clinton told CBS News in an interview.
“The most important thing is that hopefully the conflict will end with a ceasefire,” he said.
Below terms of agreementIsraeli forces will withdraw to the agreed border in the Gaza Strip, stop your military attacks And Azad 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
In return, Hamas will release all hostagesBoth are still alive and dead. trump administration made a deal This would ultimately result in the handover of Gaza to an independent Palestinian body.
Rice shares some optimism peace plan At the same time, But told CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell that “given the history of the Middle East” “no one can be completely confident” in the agreement’s ability to permanently stabilize the region.
“But I will say that there are a number of elements that I am hopeful will make this special, very important period possible for success,” she said.
Rice, who worked with former President George W. Bush, said there is increased uncertainty over the steps needed to hand over the land. Palestinian Authority,
He said, “The Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, having lost control over Gaza since 2006, has not really reformed in a long time. And it needs reform.”
“It needs young blood,” the former top diplomat said.
Rice then suggested involving Palestinians from abroad to help bring in a “new generation of leadership” because, she said, “the Palestinian people have to embrace this solution.”
Clinton also shared some doubts about it new government authorities The ability to eliminate the presence of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas and physically rebuild the Gaza Strip.
He told O’Donnell, “I have no confidence that Hamas is in any way reformed or, you know, willing to seek a better future for the people of Gaza or the Palestinians as a whole.” “And so, we have to be very careful about how to decommission them, how to contain them.”
The former first lady added, “Under the agreement, as I understand it, they can choose to go and they can be given safe passage, which, of course, I hope many of them will do.”
Earlier this year, Clinton expressed hope over the Trump administration’s ability to reach peace deals with Russia and Ukraine and promised Enroll in person If the President’s efforts are successful, he will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobel Committee on Friday chose to award The prestigious award went to someone else: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
On Saturday, the former secretaries of state endorsed Trump’s ability to move toward stabilizing conditions in the Middle East as a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with the support of both the Egyptian and Qatari governments.
Clinton said, “The stars have aligned in a way that is not available. And I think the Israeli government, the Netanyahu government, needs to seize this moment and make some reforms of their own.”
“We have to create a new transitional authority for the Palestinians, but the Israeli government will also have to take some tough decisions to take advantage of this change in circumstances,” he said.
