End of Gaza Conflict Provides Real Relief, But Trump's Assurance of a Golden Age Seems Empty

T respite brought by the end of fighting in Gaza is substantial. Within Israeli borders, the freeing of surviving detainees has sparked broad celebration. Throughout Gaza and the West Bank, festivities are also underway as up to 2,000 Palestinian detainees start to be released – though distress lingers due to ambiguity about which prisoners are returning and where they will be sent. Throughout Gaza's northern regions, people can now reenter dig through rubble for the remains of an believed 10,000 missing people.

Ceasefire Emergence Despite Earlier Odds

Just three weeks ago, the chance of a ceasefire looked improbable. But 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 peace summit of more than 20 world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer. The diplomatic roadmap initiated there is set to advance at a assembly in the UK. The US president, acting with international partners, managed to secure this deal take place – contrary to, not due to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dreams of Independence Tempered by Previous Experiences

Hopes that the deal marks the first step toward Palestinian statehood are reasonable – but, considering past occurrences, somewhat optimistic. It lacks a transparent trajectory to independence for Palestinians and risks separating, for the near term, Gaza from the West Bank. Then there is the utter devastation this war has produced. The lack of any schedule for Palestinian autonomy in the presidential proposal gives the lie to vainglorious mentions, in his Knesset speech, to the “historic dawn” of a “golden age”.

The US president could not resist polarising and individualizing the deal in his speech.

In a time of relief – with the liberation of detainees, truce and restart of aid – he chose to recast it as a lesson in ethics in which he alone reclaimed Israel’s prestige after purported treachery by former US presidents Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration twelve months prior having undertaken a comparable agreement: a truce linked to relief entry and ultimate negotiations.

Meaningful Agency Essential for Legitimate Peace

A proposal that denies one side substantive control cannot produce sustainable agreement. The halt in hostilities and aid trucks are to be applauded. But this is not currently policy development. Without systems securing Palestinian participation and authority over their own establishments, any deal threatens cementing domination under the discourse of peace.

Humanitarian Priorities and Rebuilding Obstacles

Gaza’s people urgently require humanitarian aid – and nutrition and medication must be the primary focus. But reconstruction should not be postponed. Among 60 million tonnes of debris, Palestinians need help reconstructing dwellings, learning institutions, healthcare facilities, mosques and other institutions destroyed by Israel’s incursion. For Gaza’s interim government to succeed, monetary resources must flow quickly and security gaps be remedied.

Comparable with a great deal of Mr Trump’s resolution initiative, references to an global peacekeeping unit and a suggested “diplomatic committee” are alarmingly vague.

International Support and Prospective Outcomes

Strong international support for the Gaza's governing body, allowing it to replace Hamas, is perhaps the most encouraging scenario. The immense hardship of the recent period means the moral case for a solution to the conflict is potentially more critical than ever. But while the halt in fighting, the repatriation of the hostages and commitment by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be accepted as favorable developments, Mr Trump’s history provides scant basis to trust he will fulfill – or deem himself compelled to try. Short-term relief does not mean that the possibility of a Palestinian state has been advanced.