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The reprieve following the halt in hostilities in Gaza is profound. Across Israel, the liberation of the living hostages has led to broad celebration. Across Palestinian territories, jubilations are also underway as as many as 2,000 Palestinian detainees start to be released – though concern lingers due to uncertainty about the identities of those released and their destinations. Throughout Gaza's northern regions, residents can at last reenter dig through rubble for the remnants of an approximated 10,000 missing people.

Peace Breakthrough Against Earlier Odds

As recently as three weeks ago, the probability of a ceasefire seemed unlikely. Yet it has been implemented, and on Monday Donald Trump travelled from Jerusalem, where he was hailed in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he joined a high-level peace conference of over 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The peace initiative launched at that summit is set to advance at a meeting in the UK. The US president, working alongside international partners, successfully brokered this deal take place – regardless of, not owing to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Aspirations for Sovereignty Qualified by Past Precedents

Aspirations that the deal represents the opening phase toward Palestinian statehood are reasonable – but, considering previous instances, rather hopeful. It provides no definite route to sovereignty for Palestinians and risks dividing, for the foreseeable future, Gaza from the West Bank. Then there is the total ruin this war has caused. The lack of any timeframe for Palestinian self-governance in the US initiative undermines boastful allusions, in his Knesset speech, to the “historic dawn” of a “age of abundance”.

The US president could not resist sowing division and making personal the deal in his speech.

In a period of respite – with the freeing of captives, truce and renewal of aid – he chose to recast it as a ethical drama in which he alone reinstated Israel’s honor after supposed disloyalty by past US commanders-in-chief Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration previously having attempted a similar deal: a cessation of hostilities linked to relief entry and ultimate diplomatic discussions.

Genuine Autonomy Essential for Legitimate Peace

A plan that denies one side meaningful agency cannot produce legitimate peace. The halt in hostilities and aid trucks are to be welcomed. But this is still not political progress. Without processes guaranteeing Palestinian participation and control over their own establishments, any deal risks freezing domination under the language of peace.

Humanitarian Priorities and Reconstruction Challenges

Gaza’s people urgently require emergency support – and nutrition and medication must be the primary focus. But restoration should not be postponed. Within 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need support repairing homes, educational facilities, hospitals, religious buildings and other organizations destroyed by Israel’s incursion. For Gaza’s interim government to succeed, financial support must arrive promptly and safety deficiencies be filled.

Like a great deal of Donald Trump's diplomatic proposal, allusions to an international stabilisation force and a recommended “diplomatic committee” are alarmingly vague.

International Support and Prospective Outcomes

Strong worldwide endorsement for the Palestinian Authority, allowing it to replace Hamas, is probably the most encouraging prospect. The tremendous pain of the recent period means the moral case for a solution to the conflict is potentially more critical than ever. But while the ceasefire, the repatriation of the captives and commitment by Hamas to “demilitarise” Gaza should be recognized as constructive moves, Donald Trump's history offers minimal cause to have faith he will accomplish – or feel bound to attempt. Short-term relief does not mean that the prospect of a Palestinian state has been brought closer.