Despite flaws, US proposal offers the quickest path to peace

It is nebulous. It includes many clauses that can be interpreted in various ways.

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Nonetheless, the plan to "immediately" end the Gaza war, presented by US President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept 29 and officially accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, holds the best promise to date of a halt to the two-year-old Gaza bloodshed.

It is, like all such arrangements, an offer with some benefits to both warring sides. It skirts, like all previous Middle East treaties, around the key question of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with clear borders and a single government.

Still, the latest Gaza plan is a timely reminder that, when it comes to the Middle East, the US remains the ultimate arbiter, the only power able to persuade Arab states and cajole Israel at the same time.

According to Mr Trump's proposal, Hamas - the radical Palestinian organisation in control of Gaza since 2007 - must release the Israeli hostages it still holds within 72 hours after a ceasefire comes into force.

After that, Israel would release many hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and gradually withdraw from the Gaza Strip, while Hamas fighters would either give up their weapons and be allowed to stay or move to any Arab state that would accept them.

Either way, Hamas will no longer exercise political power in the Gaza Strip. "The new Gaza is committed to peaceful coexistence with its neighbours," Mr Trump's proposal reads.

Soldiers from Arab and other Muslim states should guarantee security in the coastal strip and train Palestinian police forces.

Meanwhile, the enclave will be administered by a transitional government of "Palestinian technocrats", overseen by a foreign committee called the "board of peace".

Mr Trump's personal involvement in this enterprise is unprecedented. The US President said he himself would chair this body, whose members would also include former British prime minister Tony Blair and representatives from the Arab and Muslim world.