Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton praised the Trump administration's success in reaching a Middle East peace deal in a CBS News interview on Friday.
Clinton spoke with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the interview, saying she is "cautiously watching" how the first phase of the deal plays out.
"I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what's often called the day after," said Clinton.
"No one can be completely confident, given the history of the Middle East," Rice said about the ending of the war. However, she expressed that there are good reasons to be optimistic.
Clinton said that the deal is "going to take a lot of work" and "a lot of coordination."
Both Rice and Clinton said that there is still uncertainty about whether the first phase of the deal will be successful. "That's not self-evident," said Clinton regarding the issue.
Rice expressed confidence in the broad coalition of Arab states involved in the ceasefire, recognizing that one of the difficulties of lasting peace in the Middle East is getting various parties on board.
"The one piece that I'm most concerned about is, how do you get from a kind of transitional authority of some kind, a truly representative Palestinian authority?" Rice questioned.
"The Palestinian authority, which controls the West Bank, lost control of Gaza after 2006, has not really been reformed in a long time. And it needs reform. It needs younger blood."
When asked about the Israeli attack targeting Hamas leadership in Doha, Clinton called it "ill-advised" and a "strategic error," signaling that it facilitated US President Donald Trump's role in the peacemaking process.
"That provided an opening for both President Trump and his representatives to marshal all of the regional powers, including, of course, Qatar, but also to make it clear to Israel, 'No, this is now enough. We cannot continue this. This conflict needs to end, and we've got to move on.'"
US negotiators "took advantage of an opening that was available and were able to be successful," she said.
Trump announced early on Thursday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and is expected to arrive to Israel ahead of the release of hostages on Monday morning.
On the topic of a two-state solution, Rice said that is likely unfeasible right now. There are things that Palestinians can do to prepare for a future state, she argued, and Palestinians are going to need to insist on reforms themselves.
Changing education
"They've got to start to recognize that Israel is going to exist, and it's going to be a part of this Middle East," Rice said.
"And that means, change the lessons that you teach your kids about the state of Israel. Stop putting up maps that (say) the state of Israel doesn't exist. Don't create another generation of Palestinians who believe that somehow the resistance is the way to peace and security."
Clinton said that the work of rebuilding Gaza will be arduous, laborious and intensive, and she called on the US and international community to commit together to bring peace to the Middle East.
"Let's now support this process and bring it together, not just in a nonpartisan way in our own country, but literally internationally as a great global commitment to try to bring peace, security, stability and a better future to the Middle East," Clinton said.