Israeli strikes cast doubt on White House peace plan as Catholic leaders call for prayers

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Further Israeli strikes in Gaza cast doubt on the White House’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip, a University of Notre Dame scholar told OSV News.

The strikes came soon after Trump announced a new “milestone” toward implementing the White House’s 20-point peace plan, which prompted renewed calls for prayers for peace from Catholic leaders.

Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, told OSV News Aug. 5, “There is no peace now in Gaza, and there has been no peace since President Trump announced a ceasefire in October 2025.”

“Instead, Israel has slowed the pace of its air attacks in general. The attacks have increased again, and slowed, but never stopped,” she said. “On Sunday, Israeli attacks killed an estimated 18 Palestinians. That is not peace. Israeli ground troops have pulled back from some positions but not to the positions agreed.”

Trump said in a July 30 statement that the Board of Peace’s agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and Israel’s withdrawal from the territory was a “critical step” towards implementing the remaining provisions of the White House’s 20-point peace plan, which Israel and Hamas signed in October 2025.

“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,” Trump said. “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.”

However, in the days following Trump’s announcement, Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of more than two dozen Palestinians, Palestinian health officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Aug. 4 that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza unless and until Hamas has completely disarmed.

“Israel has remained adamant that until it is satisfied that Hamas has disarmed completely, it will not fulfill its side of the Trump plan, including to stop attacks. The 20-point plan specifies that Israel is to halt military operations, then Hamas will disarm per a process overseen by Palestinians appointed to run Gaza,” O’Connell said.

Asked if that marks a significant break between Trump and Netanyahu, who have long been allies, O’Connell said, “Israel did contradict President Trump directly, but President Trump is unpredictable. Israel’s defiance may have no impact on him.”

Previously, in an Aug. 3 statement, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said he was “heartened by news of an agreement which aims at the disarmament of Hamas and Israel’s military withdrawal from the Strip, and I call for intense prayers for the success of these negotiations.”

If implemented, he argued, the agreement had the “potential of finally providing the Palestinian people with a ‘credible political path that achieves self-determination and Statehood.’ This would be a major milestone.”

Bishop Zaidan said he called “on the United States, Israel, and the international community to facilitate greater amounts of humanitarian and development assistance to the Strip.”

“This should include restoring educational opportunities for children and youths, jobs, and clean water. Alleviating the suffering of the Gazan people is not only a vital moral imperative but is also necessary for the consolidation of peace in the Holy Land and the entire region,” he said. “Conscious of the extreme challenges inherent in this ongoing peace process, let us entrust the hearts and minds of the negotiators to the maternal care of Our Lady of Wisdom, that she may illumine and enliven their efforts to finally achieve peace in those sacred lands.”

Pope Leo XIV has consistently called for peace in the region.

O’Connell said that Trump “is in a position to make great strides toward peace in four wars if he uses all of his leverage to end Israeli attacks on Gaza; ends the unlawful war on Iran; pressures the United Arab Emirates to end its involvement in Sudan’s Civil War, and immediately provides Patriot missiles to Ukraine.”

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