Greg Carlstrom: The Economist Middle East Correspondent on Donald Trump's peace deal for Gaza

Donald Trump's proposed peace deal for Gaza is bringing some hope and optimism. 

The deal would end the war, and requires all hostages to be returned, Israeli troops to be pulled out of Gaza, and would allow Trump to lead an interim Government.  

It's being supported by our Foreign Minister Winston Peters as well as European and Middle Eastern leaders. 

The Economist Middle East Correspondent Greg Carlstrom told Mike Hosking it's good to see a serious proposal. 

He says it's an actual plan to end the war, unlike Trump's wild suggestion in February to depopulate Gaza and turn it into a beach resort. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So ware is yesterday's big White House production actually land
twenty point piece plan. Of course, immediate ce'es far followed
by the disarmament of her mouse and is ready withdrawing
gazas run by Tony Blair and Donald Trump. Greg Carlstrom
is the Middle East correspondent for The Economist, is with us. Greg, Morning,
morning to you. How did it land in your part
of the world.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, there is I would say a mix of hope
and optimism about it. The hope because this is the
closest we've been to a deal since Donald Trump took office,
and it's actually a serious proposal. Unlike back in February
when Trump came out with this wild plan to depopulate
Gaza and turn it into a beach resort. This is

(00:40):
actually a plan to end the war, to stabilize and
rebuild Gaza. So he gets some credit for that in
the region. But the question now is, you know, you
have to flesh out the details of this, and it's
a very bare bones proposal. It's basically twenty bullet points,
so there will need to be I think weeks of
negotiations between in Israel and mass about the specifics of

(01:03):
you know, when will Israel withdraw from various parts of Gaza,
who is going to comprise this international peacekeeping force that
is meant to come in, And at any point in
that process, it's possible that all of this falls apart.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Exactly. We need him As to say initially yes, and
then we get into the weeds. Has anything materially changed
even if they do say yes, because it's not like
we haven't had some peace talk so far, and mini
of them no.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think a yes from Hamas and a yes from
Nataiel yesterday that is the beginning of what will be
a long process. I think in the next couple of days,
Hamas will give a response, and I think they understand
that they can't say no to this, given Trump's support
for it, given that the alternative is an expansion of

(01:49):
the Israeli war in Gaza. They're going to say yes.
But they're going to say yes, but and they're going
to have changes they want to make to the deal,
clarifications they're going to quest and that is what's going
to start this long back and forth negotiation.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
My big concern is it looks a lot like Putin
arriving in Alaska. So we're full of hope he's turned up,
he's jumped on the plane, and then was still several
months down the track and nothing's happened.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
And I think that's a real concern. I mean, I'll
give you one example of that. There is meant to
be an international peacekeeping force comprised mostly of soldiers from
either Arab or Muslim countries that will go into Gaza
once the war ends, that will disarm Hamas and provide
security in Gaza. I was talking yesterday with someone involved

(02:37):
in the negotiations who said, listen, no country has yet
volunteered to send troops to be part of this peace
giving force, So you have to line up donor countries
first of all. Then you have to work out what
is the mandate going to be if Arab states send
their troops to be part of this body in Gaza.
Are they actually going to get into a shooting war

(02:57):
with Hamas if need be? How are they going to
work with the Israeli army, which will still be deployed
in Gaza for the foreseeable future. Those kinds of questions
have eluded negotiators for the better part of two years now,
and I don't think they're going to be easy to
work out in the weeks ahead.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
All Right, Greg got good and so I appreciate it
very much. Greg Celstrom, who is with the Economists Middle
East correspondent, they're part of the world. For more from
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