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T relief following the end of fighting in Gaza is immense. In Israel, the freeing of surviving detainees has led to broad celebration. Across Palestinian territories, celebrations are also underway as approximately 2,000 Palestinian detainees start to be released – even as distress lingers due to uncertainty about which prisoners are returning and their eventual placements. In northern Gaza, residents can finally go back to sift through wreckage for the bodies of an believed 10,000 those who have disappeared.

Peace Breakthrough Despite Prior Uncertainty

As recently as three weeks ago, the likelihood of a ceasefire looked improbable. But it has been implemented, and on Monday Donald Trump departed Jerusalem, where he was hailed in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a high-level peace conference of in excess of 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The diplomatic roadmap launched at that summit is set to advance at a conference in the UK. The US president, acting with international partners, successfully brokered this deal take place – contrary to, not owing to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Aspirations for Sovereignty Moderated by Past Precedents

Expectations that the deal marks the opening phase toward Palestinian statehood are comprehensible – but, in light of historical precedent, rather hopeful. It lacks a transparent trajectory to self-rule for Palestinians and threatens dividing, for the near term, Gaza from the West Bank. Furthermore the complete destruction this war leaves behind. The omission of any timeframe for Palestinian autonomy in the US initiative contradicts boastful mentions, in his Knesset speech, to the “monumental start” of a “age of abundance”.

The US president was unable to refrain from sowing division and personalising the deal in his speech.

In a period of ease – with the liberation of detainees, truce and renewal of aid – he opted to reframe it as a morality play in which he exclusively restored Israel’s honor after alleged treachery by previous American leaders Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration a year ago having undertaken a comparable agreement: a truce tied to relief entry and future negotiations.

Meaningful Agency Essential for Legitimate Peace

A initiative that withholds one side genuine autonomy is incapable of delivering legitimate peace. The ceasefire and aid trucks are to be applauded. But this is still not diplomatic advancement. Without systems ensuring Palestinian participation and authority over their own institutions, any deal threatens perpetuating domination under the language of peace.

Relief Imperatives and Recovery Hurdles

Gaza’s people crucially depend on humanitarian aid – and nutrition and medication must be the primary focus. But reconstruction cannot wait. Among 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need assistance repairing homes, educational facilities, medical centers, places of worship and other institutions destroyed by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s provisional leadership to prosper, funding must flow quickly and protection voids be remedied.

Comparable with a great deal of the president's peace plan, mentions to an multinational security contingent and a suggested “board of peace” are worryingly ambiguous.

Worldwide Endorsement and Potential Developments

Substantial international support for the Palestinian leadership, allowing it to succeed Hamas, is probably the most hopeful possibility. The tremendous pain of the past two years means the moral case for a solution to the conflict is possibly more pressing than ever. But although the halt in fighting, the repatriation of the hostages and vow by Hamas to “demilitarise” Gaza should be acknowledged as favorable developments, the president's history provides scant basis to have faith he will deliver – or consider himself obligated to endeavor. Temporary ease does not mean that the prospect of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.