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The relief brought by the halt in hostilities in Gaza is immense. Within Israeli borders, the liberation of the living hostages has sparked extensive joy. In Gaza and the West Bank, celebrations are taking place as up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners begin their release – although anguish lingers due to uncertainty about who is being freed and their eventual placements. In northern Gaza, residents can finally return to sift through wreckage for the bodies of an approximated 10,000 those who have disappeared.

Ceasefire Emergence Despite Earlier Odds

Just three weeks ago, the probability of a ceasefire seemed unlikely. But it has come into force, and on Monday Donald Trump journeyed from Jerusalem, where he was hailed in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a high-powered peace conference of in excess of 20 world leaders, featuring Sir Keir Starmer. The plan for peace launched at that summit is scheduled to proceed at a conference in the UK. The US president, cooperating with international partners, successfully brokered this deal happen – contrary to, not due to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian Statehood Hopes Qualified by Previous Experiences

Hopes that the deal marks the initial move toward Palestinian statehood are reasonable – but, given historical precedent, slightly idealistic. It lacks a transparent trajectory to independence for Palestinians and risks separating, for the immediate period, Gaza from the West Bank. Then there is the total ruin this war has caused. The absence of any timeframe for Palestinian self-determination in the presidential proposal gives the lie to self-aggrandizing references, in his Knesset speech, to the “monumental start” of a “golden age”.

The US president was unable to refrain from sowing division and individualizing the deal in his speech.

In a time of relief – with the liberation of detainees, halt in fighting and renewal of aid – he opted to reframe it as a morality play in which he solely restored Israel’s prestige after supposed betrayal by past US commanders-in-chief Obama and Biden. Notwithstanding the Biden administration a year ago having attempted a analogous arrangement: a ceasefire connected with humanitarian access and eventual negotiations.

Meaningful Agency Vital for Sustainable Agreement

A plan that withholds one side substantive control is incapable of delivering legitimate peace. The truce and aid trucks are to be embraced. But this is still not political progress. Without processes ensuring Palestinian participation and control over their own organizations, any deal risks freezing oppression under the rhetoric of peace.

Relief Imperatives and Recovery Hurdles

Gaza’s people crucially depend on emergency support – and sustenance and pharmaceuticals must be the initial concern. But reconstruction must not be delayed. Among 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need help reconstructing dwellings, educational facilities, medical centers, mosques and other organizations destroyed by Israel’s military operation. For Gaza’s interim government to prosper, financial support must arrive promptly and security gaps be remedied.

Comparable with a large portion of Donald Trump's resolution initiative, references to an multinational security contingent and a proposed “board of peace” are worryingly ambiguous.

International Support and Potential Developments

Robust worldwide endorsement for the Palestinian Authority, allowing it to replace Hamas, is likely the most encouraging scenario. The immense hardship of the previous 24 months means the moral case for a solution to the conflict is possibly more critical than ever. But while the ceasefire, the return of the hostages and vow by Hamas to “demilitarise” Gaza should be recognized as favorable developments, Donald Trump's history provides scant basis to believe he will fulfill – or consider himself obligated to attempt. Temporary ease does not mean that the prospect of a Palestinian state has been advanced.