The world is collectively holding its breath while a peace deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be playing out—with hostages being released and a promised secession of the armed conflict that has taken tens of thousands of lives since the October 7 terrorist attacks on a music festival by the terror group that saw 1,200 Israelis brutally murdered and another 251 taken hostage.
Since then, the retaliation of Israel has been swift and immense. Reportedly, more than 67,000 Palestinians were killed—some 18,000 of those being children—as the artillery, bombs and bullets flew in a seemingly unrelenting deluge that has left Gaza in ruins.
To many across the globe, and even a substantial number of people in Israel itself, the level of response by the Israelis to the October 7 attacks seemed more like an attempt at genocide than a measured response. It didn’t help matters in that regard that the current president of the United States mused openly about taking over the emptied territory to create a resort.
So, when the Israeli cabinet agreed on October 9 to a ceasefire with Hamas as part of the first phase of Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan the world gave a sigh of relief and then began holding its breath. In the Middle East, there have been many peace efforts that disintegrated in the final moments thanks to the madness of extremists on every side.
There have been two previous attempts at a ceasefire, one in November of 2023—just a few weeks after the initial attacks—and again this past March. Both collapsed.
This time, the brokered deal has broad international support and is being greeted with greater optimism—but as to whether the deal will hold over the long term and lead to a lasting peace is another matter.
According to this newest effort, “all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended and battle lines will remain frozen.” The Israeli military has committed to honouring that stipulation, leading to thousands of refugees beginning the long pilgrimage back to their shattered homes.
With the release of the last of the hostages taking place on Monday, the Israeli military are withdrawing to a line that still leaves them in possession of 53 percent of Gaza. This is the first of three withdrawals. The White House plan indicates future withdrawals to be around 40 percent and then 15 percent of the Gaza territory. That final stage keeps a “security perimeter” until Gaza is “secure” from any “resurgent terror threat.”
Some 600 trucks of aid will next be allowed to enter Gaza unhindered, helping to stave off what had been quickly becoming a humanitarian crisis of widespread famine. The aid will include “rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.”
The World Health Organization has said that the hospitals in Gaza are at a “breaking point” with 94 percent being damaged or completely destroyed and supplies falling far short of what is needed.
Israel, for its part, has consistently denied that famine is prevalent in Gaza.
The United States is also sending two hundred troops to Israel to monitor the ceasefire and help with aid delivery—but none of those will be directly in Gaza itself.
President Trump’s 20-point plan also stipulates that no Palestinians will be militarily forced to leave Gaza and that Israel will agree not to occupy or annex the Gaza Strip.
The enclave will “be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough,” as the plan states, but also stipulates that Gaza must be “a de-radicalized terror-free zone” that “does not pose a threat to its neighbors.”
The plan sets out a need for stabilization, with a multi-national force deploying in Gaza to help enforce it; governance, with a “temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” which will operate under an international board headed by Trump; demilitarization, with an independent monitor group who will oversee the “demilitarization” of Gaza, that includes placing weapons permanently beyond use and an internationally funded buy-back program. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure will be destroyed (this is a condition that Hamas has previously refused and is expected to resist posing a significant threat to the plan); and economic reform, with a panel of experts forming an economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza. They also convene and come hope to establish a special economic zone with preferred tariff and access rates (to be negotiated with participating countries).
Over the longer term, according to the plan, the Palestinian Authority will eventually take over governing the Gaza Strip after it has been reformed.
The final point, and perhaps most daunting in the peace plan, is for the United States to “establish a dialogue” between Israel and the Palestinian territories to agree on a political horizon “for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.”
The conflict in Gaza has led to a significant deterioration of Israel’s standing in the world, long seen as an embattled and feisty underdog, surrounded by hostile neighbours and constantly being rocketed and bombed by terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, the Israeli state it is now being saddled with the mantle of villain in many people’s eyes.
Across the globe there has been a steady rise in antisemitism that is clearly linked to those visions of dead children and devastated civilian lives appearing in the international news feeds daily.
At the same time, there has been a concerted push to label any support for the embattled Palestinians as support for terrorism, with any suggestion of alleviating their suffering being characterized as a “win” for Hamas.
In war, especially a symmetrical/unsymmetrical conflict such as that taking place in Gaza, there are rarely any clear and defined “winners.” What there are, in droves, are innocent victims, displaced refugees, babies in body bags along with destroyed hospitals and schools and other vital infrastructure that will take many billions of dollars to rebuild.
While this paper is not a particular fan of the current POTUS, and The Donald’s antics continue to tick off most of the globe daily and threaten the fall of the world’s greatest democracy, should his peace plan stick, and should he manage to finally rein in The Putin on Ukraine, we submit that Donald Trump will deserve his coveted Nobel Peace Prize next year (the actual deliberations take place in January, so this year’s was already out of the question and not “politics” as the MAGA faithful are wont to believe).
But either of those factors remain a decided long shot, given the long and brutal history that lies between the two factions in both cases. It is difficult to bury the hatchet while you are still burying your dead.
As the negotiators work on the final details of the 20-point plan, several of which are anathema to Hamas, the world continues to hold its breath and pray fervently, in all denominations and faiths, for a lasting and fruitful peace.
