President Donald Trump's peace plan for the war between Israel and Hamas is being met with "extreme skepticism" abroad, a foreign analyst revealed on Tuesday.
Jane Kinninmont, CEO at the United Nations Association, discussed Trump's peace plan during an interview on Times Radio. The plan involves creating an international peacekeeping commission headed by Trump and a complete overhaul of the Palestinian Authority, the governing body of Palestine.
She argued that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some Arab leaders have expressed support for Trump's "leadership" on the issue, there is still a "big divide" that needs to be crossed.
"There's certainly a lot that needs to be treated with extreme skepticism, but emphasizing that nearly the whole world does want to see an end to these daily killings, to the famine, and they want to see the hostages freed, and we need to find a way to get there," Kinninmont said.
Kinninmont added that one of the hang-ups for foreign leaders is whether the peace deal has teeth to protect a Palestinian state in a two-state solution scenario.
"Although we have seen Arab leaders come out in some numbers today to welcome the plan, if you look at what they have said carefully with a diplomat's eye to what is said and not said, they express their support for his leadership and his efforts for peace, but they also say they're ready to work with him on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a path to a two-state solution," Kinninmont said.
"That is very different from Netanyahu's reading of the plan, which is that it doesn't require that full Israeli withdrawal for quite a long time and that for him there will never be a Palestinian state," she continued. "So there's still a very big divide to be bridged."
