In response to the plan that the Trump administration has proposed to end the conflict in Gaza, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said: 

“The most urgent priority is to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza and release all civilian hostages. Any initiative aimed at securing a lasting peace must be grounded in international law, uphold the human rights of all people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Israel, and be focused on bringing an immediate end to Israel’s unlawful occupation and system of apartheid.

“The immediate first steps must be a permanent ceasefire, unconditional lifting of Israel’s unlawful blockade to allow for the safe and unhindered provision of lifesaving aid, and unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups and detainees unlawfully held by Israel.

“Whether or not the parties to the conflict agree to any peace plan, States must act, and act now, to end the genocide, bring about a ceasefire, secure the release of hostages and allow unhindered access to humanitarian supplies.

“The provision of humanitarian aid and the end of Israel’s genocide in Gaza cannot be made contingent, as this plan provides, on whether or not Hamas accepts the proposal. Over 65,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed; hundreds of thousands injured, and Palestinians in Gaza continue to reel under the horrific impact of ongoing displacement, destruction and starvation for almost two years. This catastrophe, engineered by Israel and enabled by US-backing, must finally end, whether or not there is a deal.

“Similarly, the release of civilian hostages and of arbitrarily detained Palestinians should be unconditional. Israel and Hamas both must stop the unlawful practice of withholding the bodies of the dead from relatives.

“It is vital that any agreement leads to justice for the victims of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.  Experience the world over, including in Israel and the OPT, has demonstrated that impunity breeds conflict and further atrocities. All states must uphold their obligations under international law to hold those responsible for crimes under international law accountable.

“Justice and peace cannot be mutually exclusive. Apartheid and occupation are among the root causes of the horrors Palestinians are facing and any plan that does not acknowledge this reality effectively prewrites the recipe for more abuses.”

In September 2024, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding that Israel, in line with the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of July 2024, withdraw from the OPT, including East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza within a year. Any peace plan should build on, and allow for, the implementation of the resolution. It should not include provisions which may nullify the resolution or render its full implementation impossible.

The absolute rejection of all forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza is crucial, but must be extended to the entire OPT and to forcible transfer within the OPT. Should Israel wish to have a security perimeter, it must not use the OPT to do so. Moreover, Israel must not retain a stranglehold over who can and cannot return to the OPT.

In addition, any ultimate agreement must ensure that Palestinians fully and meaningfully participate in all decisions involving the future of the OPT, its governance and the exercise of their rights, including the right to return. 

Amnesty International notes with alarm that President Trump is stating that Israel would have his administration’s “full backing” to destroy Hamas should it not accept this plan, given that Israel has used the purported rationale of destroying Hamas as justification for its genocide in Gaza. Genocide cannot and must not be the means for waging war. Should Hamas reject this proposal, Israel and the United States remain bound by international law, as does Hamas, and must not engage in acts that target civilians or withhold life-sustaining aid from the civilian population.

Amnesty International calls on all states to focus on implementing their obligations under international law. Governments should also end their self-imposed inertia and their active or tacit support for Israeli violations of international law. They must commit to halting any forms of cooperation, including arms transfers or economic cooperation, that may contribute to or sustain Israel’s unlawful occupation, its system of apartheid or the genocide in Gaza.

ENDS