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The reprieve following the halt in hostilities in Gaza is immense. In Israel, the liberation of captives held alive has sparked broad celebration. Across Palestinian territories, celebrations have commenced as approximately 2,000 Palestinian inmates are being freed – even as anguish lingers due to uncertainty about the identities of those released and their eventual placements. Throughout Gaza's northern regions, people can at last return to search the debris for the bodies of an approximated 10,000 those who have disappeared.

Peace Breakthrough Against Earlier Odds

Just three weeks ago, the probability of a ceasefire seemed unlikely. However it has come into force, and on Monday Donald Trump travelled from Jerusalem, where he was applauded in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he joined a high-powered diplomatic gathering of in excess of 20 world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer. The peace initiative launched at that summit is due to be continued at a conference in the UK. The US president, working alongside international partners, did make this deal take place – contrary to, not because of, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Aspirations for Sovereignty Tempered by Past Precedents

Hopes that the deal marks the opening phase toward Palestinian statehood are understandable – but, in light of past occurrences, rather hopeful. It provides no definite route to independence for Palestinians and threatens splitting, for the foreseeable future, Gaza from the West Bank. Furthermore the total ruin this war has produced. The absence of any timeline for Palestinian autonomy in the presidential proposal undermines boastful allusions, in his Knesset speech, to the “epochal beginning” of a “era of prosperity”.

Donald Trump was unable to refrain from polarising and personalising the deal in his speech.

In a moment of ease – with the freeing of captives, ceasefire and restart of aid – he decided to reinterpret it as a lesson in ethics in which he alone reinstated Israel’s dignity after supposed disloyalty by previous American leaders Obama and Biden. Notwithstanding the Biden administration previously having undertaken a comparable agreement: a ceasefire connected with humanitarian access and eventual political talks.

Substantive Control Crucial for Legitimate Peace

A plan that refuses one side genuine autonomy is incapable of delivering authentic resolution. The halt in hostilities and relief shipments are to be embraced. But this is still not political progress. Without mechanisms guaranteeing Palestinian engagement and control over their own establishments, any deal threatens perpetuating subjugation under the rhetoric of peace.

Aid Necessities and Reconstruction Challenges

Gaza’s people desperately need relief assistance – and nutrition and medication must be the initial concern. But restoration cannot wait. Amid 60 million tonnes of rubble, Palestinians need help reconstructing homes, learning institutions, medical centers, religious buildings and other establishments destroyed by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s provisional leadership to prosper, funding must be disbursed rapidly and security gaps be remedied.

Like much of Mr Trump’s diplomatic proposal, references to an international stabilisation force and a recommended “board of peace” are alarmingly vague.

Worldwide Endorsement and Future Prospects

Strong worldwide endorsement for the Palestinian leadership, allowing it to succeed Hamas, is perhaps the most promising scenario. The tremendous pain of the previous 24 months means the ethical argument for a resolution to the conflict is arguably more urgent than ever. But although the truce, the repatriation of the captives and vow by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be recognized as favorable developments, the president's history gives little reason to trust he will accomplish – or consider himself obligated to endeavor. Short-term relief should not be interpreted as that the likelihood of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.