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T respite following the halt in hostilities in Gaza is profound. Within Israeli borders, the freeing of the living hostages has led to extensive joy. Throughout Gaza and the West Bank, celebrations have commenced as up to 2,000 Palestinian detainees are being freed – though anguish persists due to doubt about which prisoners are returning and their eventual placements. In northern Gaza, civilians can now return to dig through rubble for the bodies of an believed 10,000 unaccounted-for individuals.

Truce Development Despite Earlier Odds

As recently as three weeks ago, the chance of a ceasefire looked improbable. Yet it has been implemented, 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 conference of in excess of 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The diplomatic roadmap initiated there is scheduled to proceed at a meeting in the UK. The US president, acting with international partners, did make this deal come to fruition – regardless of, not due to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian Statehood Hopes Tempered by Previous Experiences

Aspirations that the deal signifies the first step toward Palestinian statehood are comprehensible – but, in light of historical precedent, rather hopeful. It provides no definite route to self-rule for Palestinians and threatens splitting, for the immediate period, Gaza from the West Bank. Furthermore the total ruin this war has produced. The absence of any timeline for Palestinian self-determination in the presidential proposal gives the lie to self-aggrandizing allusions, in his Knesset speech, to the “epochal beginning” of a “golden age”.

The US president was unable to refrain from sowing division 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 morality play in which he exclusively reinstated Israel’s honor after supposed betrayal by past US commanders-in-chief Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration previously having attempted a analogous arrangement: a ceasefire tied to relief entry and eventual negotiations.

Substantive Control Vital for Authentic Resolution

A plan that withholds one side genuine autonomy is incapable of delivering legitimate peace. The ceasefire and relief shipments are to be embraced. But this is not yet policy development. Without processes securing Palestinian participation and command over their own institutions, any deal threatens freezing subjugation under the rhetoric of peace.

Aid Necessities and Recovery Hurdles

Gaza’s people urgently require humanitarian aid – and food and medicines must be the initial concern. But restoration must not be delayed. Within 60 million tonnes of rubble, Palestinians need support repairing residences, learning institutions, medical centers, mosques and other organizations shattered by Israel’s military operation. For Gaza’s provisional leadership to succeed, monetary resources must flow quickly and protection voids be addressed.

Similar to a large portion of Donald Trump's resolution initiative, mentions to an multinational security contingent and a suggested “diplomatic committee” are alarmingly vague.

Worldwide Endorsement and Prospective Outcomes

Strong global backing for the Gaza's governing body, enabling it to replace Hamas, is probably the most promising scenario. The immense hardship of the previous 24 months means the ethical argument for a solution to the conflict is arguably more urgent than ever. But while the ceasefire, the repatriation of the detainees and vow by Hamas to “disarm” Gaza should be accepted as favorable developments, Donald Trump's record provides scant basis to believe he will accomplish – or consider himself obligated to attempt. Immediate respite does not mean that the possibility of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.