عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

UK Proposes Five-Point Plan to End Gaza War

Palestinians flee from Khan Yunis to Rafah after Israeli forces forced them to evacuate their camp. (EPA)
Palestinians flee from Khan Yunis to Rafah after Israeli forces forced them to evacuate their camp. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

UK Proposes Five-Point Plan to End Gaza War

Palestinians flee from Khan Yunis to Rafah after Israeli forces forced them to evacuate their camp. (EPA)
Palestinians flee from Khan Yunis to Rafah after Israeli forces forced them to evacuate their camp. (EPA)

The UK is proposing a five-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas, as Western allies that have backed the Jewish state push for a permanent ceasefire and a political process that sets a pathway for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a report by the Financial Times revealed Saturday.

The initiative, which Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron discussed with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during a tour of the region this week, calls for an immediate pause in hostilities. That would be used to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and to negotiate the permanent ceasefire, a senior UK official said.

It proposes setting out a clear “political horizon” for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and the formation of a technocratic Palestinian government to administer the West Bank and Gaza after the war.

The newspaper added that Hamas would have to release all hostages and commit to halting attacks against Israel, which regional states would guarantee. The plan also includes the suggestion that Hamas’s senior leaders in Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7 attack, leave the strip for another country.

The New York Times revealed in a report on Saturday that top officials from at least ten different administrations are trying to forge a head-spinning set of deals to end the Gaza war and answer the divisive question of how the territory will be governed after the fighting stops.

The narrowest set of major discussions is focused on reaching a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. This would involve the exchange of more than 100 Israeli hostages held by Hamas for thousands of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, the newspaper added.

The report was based on interviews with more than a dozen diplomats and other officials involved in the talks, all of whom spoke anonymously, Arab World Press reported.

Officials are tossing around many ideas, most of which are provisional, long shots, or strongly opposed by some parties. Several contentious suggestions are:

“Transferring power within the Palestinian Authority from the incumbent president, Mahmoud Abbas, to a new prime minister, while letting Mr. Abbas retain a ceremonial role, sending an Arab peacekeeping force to Gaza to bolster a new Palestinian administration there, and passing a UN Security Council resolution, backed by the United States, that would recognize the Palestinians’ right to statehood,” according to the newspaper.

Most Viewed

 
World

Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Denmark's prime minister has told the US during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said on Friday that Washington will respect Greenland's self-determination and Copenhagen “should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was wrapping up a three-day visit to the strategically critical Arctic island on Friday as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.

A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.

Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland's incoming and outgoing leaders on board a Danish naval ship. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.

Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”

“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.

“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”

“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.

The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”

Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump's designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”

He said Trump's point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we're going to protect America's interests come hell or high water.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was attending a meeting in Brussels with his NATO counterparts, wrote on social network X that he had an “honest and direct” meeting Thursday with Rubio.

“I made it crystal clear that claims and statements about annexing Greenland are not only unacceptable and disrespectful,” Løkke Rasmussen wrote. “They amount to a violation of international law.”

Rubio told reporters in Brussels Friday that “no one's annexed anything.” He added that Vance has made clear that “he's going to respect the self-determination of Greenlanders.”

“Denmark should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark," Rubio said.

“We didn’t give them that idea. They’ve been talking about that for a long time,” he said. "Whenever they make that decision, they’ll make that decision.”

“If they make that decision, then the United States would stand ready, potentially, to step in and say, okay, we can create a partnership with you," Rubio said, adding that "we’re not at that stage.”