Trump says Gaza war ‘is over’, but analysts warn fighting could resume within weeks

South China Morning Post · Feb 20, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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US President Donald Trump declared the war in Gaza “over” at his inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting on Thursday, even as regional analysts warned that Israeli military operations could resume within weeks.At the gathering in Washington, attended by senior officials from more than 20 countries, promises of reconstruction and a “bright future” for Gaza were coupled with blunt US warnings that the alternative to disarmament would be a return to war.Outside the meeting, Israeli officials reinforced that message, setting a 60-day deadline for Hamas to disarm and insisting that rebuilding could not begin before demilitarisation – conditions observers said could put Gaza back on a path to renewed conflict.Trump told the board he believed Hamas would “give up their weapons”.“If they don’t, it’ll be, you know, they’ll be harshly met,” he added, while also saying the group deserved “credit” for locating and returning the bodies of Israeli captives in Gaza.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned there was no alternative to Trump’s plan for Gaza.“There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B is going back to war,” Rubio told the meeting. “Plan A, the only path forward, is one that rebuilds Gaza in a way of enduring and sustainable peace where no one has to worry about returning to conflict, human suffering and destruction.”