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T relief brought by the ceasefire in Gaza is immense. Across Israel, the liberation of surviving detainees has sparked widespread elation. In Gaza and the West Bank, jubilations have commenced as as many as 2,000 Palestinian inmates are being freed – although anguish remains due to ambiguity about the identities of those released and their destinations. Throughout Gaza's northern regions, residents can finally reenter sift through wreckage for the remnants of an estimated 10,000 those who have disappeared.

Ceasefire Emergence Against Previous Doubts

As recently as three weeks ago, the likelihood of a ceasefire seemed unlikely. However it has taken effect, and on Monday Donald Trump travelled from Jerusalem, where he was cheered in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a prestigious peace summit of more than 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The plan for peace initiated there is set to advance at a meeting in the UK. The US president, working alongside international partners, managed to secure this deal happen – contrary to, not owing to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian Statehood Hopes Moderated by Historical Realities

Expectations that the deal signifies the first step toward Palestinian statehood are reasonable – but, considering past occurrences, somewhat optimistic. It provides no definite route to sovereignty for Palestinians and endangers splitting, for the foreseeable future, Gaza from the West Bank. Furthermore the utter devastation this war has caused. The absence of any schedule for Palestinian self-governance in Mr Trump’s plan undermines vainglorious allusions, in his Knesset speech, to the “historic dawn” of a “era of prosperity”.

The American leader could not resist polarising and making personal the deal in his speech.

In a period of relief – with the liberation of detainees, ceasefire and renewal of aid – he opted to reframe it as a ethical drama in which he solely restored Israel’s prestige after alleged treachery by previous American leaders Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration twelve months prior having tried a analogous arrangement: a truce tied to humanitarian access and future diplomatic discussions.

Substantive Control Crucial for Authentic Resolution

A plan that withholds one side meaningful agency cannot produce legitimate peace. The halt in hostilities and aid trucks are to be embraced. But this is not currently political progress. Without systems securing Palestinian engagement and control over their own organizations, any deal threatens cementing subjugation under the language of peace.

Relief Imperatives and Recovery Hurdles

Gaza’s people desperately need emergency support – and food and medicines must be the primary focus. But rebuilding cannot wait. Within 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need help repairing residences, learning institutions, medical centers, places of worship and other establishments devastated by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s provisional leadership to prosper, financial support must arrive promptly and protection voids be filled.

Like much of Mr Trump’s peace plan, mentions to an global peacekeeping unit and a recommended “peace council” are worryingly ambiguous.

International Support and Prospective Outcomes

Robust worldwide endorsement for the Palestinian Authority, permitting it to replace Hamas, is probably the most encouraging possibility. The tremendous pain of the past two years means the moral case for a settlement to the conflict is potentially more critical than ever. But even as the ceasefire, the homecoming of the captives and pledge by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be accepted as constructive moves, the president's record gives little reason to have faith he will fulfill – or deem himself compelled to try. Immediate respite does not imply that the likelihood of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.