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T respite resulting from the end of fighting in Gaza is profound. Across Israel, the liberation of captives held alive has resulted in broad celebration. In Gaza and the West Bank, festivities are taking place as as many as 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are being freed – although distress lingers due to ambiguity about the identities of those released and where they will be sent. Across northern Gaza, residents can finally reenter dig through rubble for the remnants of an approximated 10,000 missing people.

Peace Breakthrough Despite Earlier Odds

Only three weeks ago, the likelihood of a ceasefire appeared remote. But it has been implemented, and on Monday Donald Trump departed Jerusalem, where he was cheered in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a prestigious peace summit of over 20 world leaders, featuring Sir Keir Starmer. The plan for peace initiated there is due to be continued at a conference in the UK. The US president, cooperating with international partners, managed to secure this deal happen – regardless of, not owing to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dreams of Independence Tempered by Past Precedents

Hopes that the deal marks the initial move toward Palestinian statehood are reasonable – but, in light of past occurrences, rather hopeful. It offers no clear path to sovereignty for Palestinians and risks splitting, for the near term, Gaza from the West Bank. Then there is the total ruin this war has produced. The omission of any timeline for Palestinian autonomy in Mr Trump’s plan contradicts boastful allusions, in his Knesset speech, to the “epochal beginning” of a “era of prosperity”.

The US president could not help himself sowing division and individualizing the deal in his speech.

In a moment of respite – with the liberation of detainees, ceasefire and renewal of aid – he opted to reframe it as a morality play in which he alone reinstated Israel’s prestige after purported treachery by past US commanders-in-chief Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration twelve months prior having attempted a analogous arrangement: a ceasefire linked to relief entry and future diplomatic discussions.

Genuine Autonomy Vital for Sustainable Agreement

A plan that withholds one side substantive control cannot yield sustainable agreement. The halt in hostilities and aid trucks are to be applauded. But this is still not diplomatic advancement. Without mechanisms ensuring Palestinian participation and control over their own establishments, any deal risks cementing subjugation under the language of peace.

Relief Imperatives and Rebuilding Obstacles

Gaza’s people urgently require emergency support – and food and medicines must be the primary focus. But restoration cannot wait. Among 60 million tonnes of rubble, Palestinians need support reconstructing homes, schools, healthcare facilities, places of worship and other institutions shattered by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s provisional leadership to succeed, funding must arrive promptly and protection voids be addressed.

Comparable with a great deal of the president's peace plan, allusions to an multinational security contingent and a suggested “peace council” are disturbingly unclear.

Global Backing and Potential Developments

Strong worldwide endorsement for the Palestinian leadership, allowing it to succeed Hamas, is probably the most hopeful possibility. The tremendous pain of the past two years means the moral case for a solution to the conflict is potentially more urgent than ever. But although the halt in fighting, the homecoming of the hostages and vow by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be recognized as constructive moves, Mr Trump’s history offers minimal cause to have faith he will deliver – or consider himself obligated to try. Temporary ease does not imply that the prospect of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.