ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced their agreement on Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip, soon entering its third year of Israeli military occupation.

Consisting of 20 points, the plan was released as the pair held a joint presser in the White House, with Trump saying that the initiative obtaining final approval from all parties is "beyond close."

The plan would see an immediate ceasefire, the phased withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Strip, and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, before progressing into a longer-term security plan that involves the disarmament of the Palestinian militant group.

“This is the closest we've ever come to real peace,” the US president told reporters.

Netanyahu, for his part, expressed great enthusiasm for the proposal, lavishing praise on Trump and stressing that the plan "achieves our war aims."

A copy of the proposal published by the White House states as its fourth point: "Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned."

In contrast to an earlier proposal by the Trump administration that would have seen Gazans forcibly removed from their homeland, the new plan asserts that "no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza."

Additionally, Trump detailed schemes for a "temporary international stabilization force" to secure the Strip as the peace process unfolds, though the Israeli premier said that "Israel will retain security responsibility, including a security perimeter, for the foreseeable future" in the territory.

The plan also demands that the Palestinian Authority (PA) undergo significant reforms before it is permitted a governing role in Gaza, until which time the governance of the Strip will fall to a "temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza."

"If the Palestinian Authority does not complete the reforms I've laid out, they have only themselves to blame," Trump asserted.

Netanyahu, expectedly ruling out any political role for Hamas, was less sanguine regarding any potential reform of the PA, saying that they require a "radical and genuine overhaul."

The plan has been disseminated to Arab and regional leaders and awaits a response from Hamas, who are expected to accept not having "any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form" under the US initiative.

"If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done," Netanyahu told Trump at the presser.

Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed over 66,000 people, most of whom are civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry, with growing international backlash, perhaps most salient in a torrent of recognition of Palestinian statehood by Western countries in recent times, placing pressure on Israel and its allies to bring a halt to the bloodshed.