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T respite following the end of fighting in Gaza is profound. Across Israel, the freeing of surviving detainees has resulted in extensive joy. In Gaza and the West Bank, jubilations are also underway as as many as 2,000 Palestinian detainees start to be released – although concern remains due to doubt about the identities of those released and their destinations. In northern Gaza, residents can at last return to sift through wreckage for the remnants of an estimated 10,000 those who have disappeared.

Peace Breakthrough Despite Prior Uncertainty

As recently as three weeks ago, the likelihood of a ceasefire looked improbable. Yet it has been implemented, and on Monday Donald Trump departed Jerusalem, where he was hailed in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a prestigious diplomatic gathering of over 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The peace initiative launched at that summit is scheduled to proceed at a assembly in the UK. The US president, acting with international partners, successfully brokered this deal come to fruition – regardless of, not because of, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian Statehood Hopes Tempered by Past Precedents

Expectations that the deal represents the first step toward Palestinian statehood are reasonable – but, considering past occurrences, slightly idealistic. It provides no definite route to sovereignty for Palestinians and endangers dividing, for the near term, Gaza from the West Bank. Furthermore the total ruin this war leaves behind. The omission of any timeframe for Palestinian autonomy in the US initiative undermines vainglorious references, in his Knesset speech, to the “monumental start” of a “age of abundance”.

The American leader was unable to refrain from polarising and individualizing the deal in his speech.

In a period of relief – with the hostage release, truce and restart of aid – he chose to recast it as a lesson in ethics in which he exclusively reinstated Israel’s prestige after alleged treachery by former US presidents Obama and Biden. This despite the Biden administration twelve months prior having attempted a comparable agreement: a ceasefire tied to relief entry and future political talks.

Substantive Control Crucial for Sustainable Agreement

A proposal that withholds one side meaningful agency cannot produce authentic resolution. The truce and aid trucks are to be welcomed. But this is still not political progress. Without mechanisms securing Palestinian participation and control over their own institutions, any deal threatens cementing subjugation under the discourse of peace.

Aid Necessities and Rebuilding Obstacles

Gaza’s people desperately need emergency support – and nutrition and medication must be the primary focus. But reconstruction should not be postponed. Within 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need support reconstructing dwellings, schools, hospitals, mosques and other institutions shattered by Israel’s incursion. For Gaza’s transitional administration to prosper, funding must be disbursed rapidly and security gaps be remedied.

Like much of Donald Trump's peace plan, allusions to an multinational security contingent and a proposed “diplomatic committee” are alarmingly vague.

Global Backing and Prospective Outcomes

Strong international support for the Palestinian leadership, permitting it to replace Hamas, is perhaps the most promising scenario. The immense hardship of the past two years means the moral case for a settlement to the conflict is potentially more pressing than ever. But although the truce, the homecoming of the detainees and vow by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be recognized as favorable developments, Mr Trump’s record provides scant basis to have faith he will accomplish – or feel bound to attempt. Immediate respite does not mean that the possibility of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.