Thousands of people gathered Friday in Jerusalem for a rare rally in favor of peace, as the war in Gaza enters its 20th month, with an alarming humanitarian situation according to the U.N. and dozens of Israeli hostages still captive.

Israel, which resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce, announced Monday a "conquest" plan for the Palestinian territory that involves a massive displacement of its population, sparking widespread condemnation worldwide.

"Gaza will be completely destroyed," said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an extreme-right politician, on Tuesday.

"We cannot let extremists on both sides, who thrive on vengeance, fear, and hatred, decide our future," said Maoz Inon, a 50-year-old Israeli entrepreneur and peace activist, co-organizer of this People's Peace Summit held on Friday, to AFP.

"Even if they control our present, we must choose an alternative and shape a different future," he added.

The event was organized by a coalition of about 60 local organizations working for a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On this occasion, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa presented their peace plan, unveiled for the first time last year. 

- Solution to two states -

Kidwa, nephew of the former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, spoke via video conference from the occupied West Bank.

"Only a two-state solution can bring about a radical change for our country and the entire region," said Mr. Olmert, the centrist predecessor of the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The war must end and withdraw from Gaza. Gaza is Palestinian ... and must be part of a Palestinian state," he argued. He called for the establishment of an "internal security force" under the Palestinian Authority, with "objective powers ... to rebuild the Gaza Strip without the participation" of Hamas.

The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement. 

Kidwa stated that their peace proposal was based on a two-state solution, including a 4.4% land exchange between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

According to the plan unveiled last year, Israel would annex the main Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including some areas around Jerusalem. 

In return, an Israeli territory of equivalent size would be ceded to a future Palestinian state, they said. 

Their vision of a two-state solution is based on Israel's borders of June 4, 1967, before the occupation of the West Bank. 

The Olmert-Kidwa plan also advocates shared sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem, with a governance that would include Israel and a Palestinian state.