Gaza Ceasefire Brings Tangible Respite, However the US President's Promise of a Golden Age Seems Empty

T respite brought by the ceasefire in Gaza is profound. Within Israeli borders, the release of the living hostages has led to widespread elation. In Gaza and the West Bank, celebrations are taking place as up to 2,000 Palestinian detainees are being freed – even as anguish remains due to uncertainty about who is being freed and their destinations. Across northern Gaza, civilians can at last go back to search the debris for the remains of an estimated 10,000 missing people.

Ceasefire Emergence Contrary to Prior Uncertainty

As recently as three weeks ago, the likelihood of a ceasefire seemed unlikely. Yet it has been implemented, and on Monday Donald Trump travelled from Jerusalem, where he was applauded in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he joined a high-powered peace conference of more than 20 world leaders, among them Sir Keir Starmer. The peace initiative launched at that summit is due to be continued at a conference in the UK. The US president, acting with international partners, successfully brokered this deal happen – regardless of, not because of, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dreams of Independence Tempered by Past Precedents

Expectations that the deal represents the initial move toward Palestinian statehood are understandable – but, considering past occurrences, slightly idealistic. It provides no definite route to self-rule for Palestinians and risks separating, for the foreseeable future, Gaza from the West Bank. Additionally the utter devastation this war has caused. The lack of any timeline for Palestinian autonomy in the US initiative contradicts boastful mentions, in his Knesset speech, to the “epochal beginning” of a “golden age”.

The American leader could not help himself sowing division and personalising the deal in his speech.

In a moment of relief – with the freeing of captives, halt in fighting and renewal of aid – he opted to reframe it as a morality play in which he exclusively reinstated Israel’s prestige after purported disloyalty by previous American leaders Obama and Biden. Notwithstanding the Biden administration twelve months prior having attempted a analogous arrangement: a cessation of hostilities linked to aid delivery and eventual negotiations.

Genuine Autonomy Vital for Authentic Resolution

A initiative that denies one side substantive control cannot produce legitimate peace. The truce and aid trucks are to be embraced. But this is not yet diplomatic advancement. Without mechanisms securing Palestinian engagement and authority over their own establishments, any deal endangers freezing subjugation under the language of peace.

Aid Necessities and Rebuilding Obstacles

Gaza’s people urgently require emergency support – and food and medicines must be the initial concern. But reconstruction cannot wait. Among 60 million tonnes of rubble, Palestinians need support restoring homes, learning institutions, hospitals, mosques and other establishments devastated by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s provisional leadership to succeed, financial support must flow quickly and protection voids be filled.

Like a great deal of the president's diplomatic proposal, allusions to an international stabilisation force and a suggested “board of peace” are disturbingly unclear.

Global Backing and Prospective Outcomes

Strong international support for the Palestinian Authority, enabling it to replace Hamas, is perhaps the most encouraging possibility. The enormous suffering of the recent period means the humanitarian imperative for a solution to the conflict is potentially more pressing than ever. But even as the halt in fighting, the repatriation of the detainees and commitment by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be recognized as positive steps, Mr Trump’s history gives little reason to have faith he will fulfill – or feel bound to attempt. Immediate respite should not be interpreted as that the likelihood of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.