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The respite brought by the end of fighting in Gaza is substantial. Across Israel, the liberation of captives held alive has resulted in extensive joy. Across Palestinian territories, festivities are taking place as up to 2,000 Palestinian inmates are being freed – although distress persists due to uncertainty about the identities of those released and where they will be sent. In northern Gaza, people can now reenter sift through wreckage for the remnants of an estimated 10,000 those who have disappeared.

Truce Development Against Previous Doubts

Only three weeks ago, the likelihood of a ceasefire seemed unlikely. However it has come into force, and on Monday Donald Trump travelled from Jerusalem, where he was applauded in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a high-powered peace conference of over 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The diplomatic roadmap launched at that summit is due to be continued at a meeting in the UK. The US president, working alongside international partners, managed to secure this deal come to fruition – contrary to, not due to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dreams of Independence Tempered by Historical Realities

Hopes that the deal signifies the first step toward Palestinian statehood are comprehensible – but, considering previous instances, rather hopeful. It provides no definite route to sovereignty for Palestinians and endangers dividing, for the near term, Gaza from the West Bank. Then there is the utter devastation this war has produced. The omission of any timeframe for Palestinian self-determination in the US initiative gives the lie to self-aggrandizing allusions, in his Knesset speech, to the “monumental start” of a “age of abundance”.

The US president could not help himself sowing division and individualizing the deal in his speech.

In a period of ease – with the freeing of captives, truce and resumption of aid – he decided to reinterpret it as a lesson in ethics in which he alone reclaimed Israel’s dignity after purported betrayal by previous American leaders Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration a year ago having undertaken a similar deal: a cessation of hostilities linked to humanitarian access and future diplomatic discussions.

Substantive Control Vital for Legitimate Peace

A initiative that denies one side genuine autonomy is incapable of delivering authentic resolution. The truce and aid trucks are to be embraced. But this is still not diplomatic advancement. Without systems guaranteeing Palestinian participation and command over their own establishments, any deal risks perpetuating subjugation under the language of peace.

Humanitarian Priorities and Reconstruction Challenges

Gaza’s people desperately need humanitarian aid – and food and medicines must be the first priority. But restoration should not be postponed. Amid 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need help reconstructing dwellings, educational facilities, medical centers, places of worship and other establishments destroyed by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s transitional administration to prosper, monetary resources must arrive promptly and security gaps be remedied.

Comparable with a great deal of the president's diplomatic proposal, references to an international stabilisation force and a proposed “diplomatic committee” are alarmingly vague.

Global Backing and Prospective Outcomes

Substantial worldwide endorsement for the Gaza's governing body, permitting it to take over from Hamas, is probably the most promising prospect. The enormous suffering of the past two years means the ethical argument for a resolution to the conflict is possibly more urgent than ever. But although the halt in fighting, the homecoming of the detainees and pledge by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be accepted as constructive moves, the president's record gives little reason to believe he will accomplish – or feel bound to try. Short-term relief does not mean that the prospect of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.