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The respite resulting from the halt in hostilities in Gaza is profound. Across Israel, the release of surviving detainees has sparked extensive joy. In Gaza and the West Bank, celebrations are taking place as up to 2,000 Palestinian detainees start to be released – although anguish lingers due to uncertainty about who is being freed and where they will be sent. Across northern Gaza, residents can finally reenter dig through rubble for the remnants of an believed 10,000 missing people.

Truce Development Contrary to Previous Doubts

Just three weeks ago, the chance of a ceasefire appeared remote. But it has come into force, and on Monday Donald Trump departed Jerusalem, where he was cheered in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he participated in a prestigious diplomatic gathering of over 20 world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer. The diplomatic roadmap launched at that summit is scheduled to proceed at a conference in the UK. The US president, cooperating with international partners, successfully brokered this deal take place – despite, not due to, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dreams of Independence Qualified by Historical Realities

Aspirations that the deal signifies the first step toward Palestinian statehood are understandable – but, considering past occurrences, rather hopeful. It lacks a transparent trajectory to self-rule for Palestinians and endangers splitting, for the foreseeable future, Gaza from the West Bank. Then there is the total ruin this war has produced. The absence of any schedule for Palestinian autonomy in the US initiative contradicts self-aggrandizing references, in his Knesset speech, to the “epochal beginning” of a “era of prosperity”.

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

In a time of ease – with the freeing of captives, halt in fighting and resumption of aid – he decided to reinterpret it as a ethical drama in which he exclusively reclaimed Israel’s prestige after supposed betrayal by past US commanders-in-chief Obama and Biden. Notwithstanding the Biden administration previously having undertaken a similar deal: a truce connected with humanitarian access and future negotiations.

Genuine Autonomy Vital for Legitimate Peace

A initiative that denies one side genuine autonomy is incapable of delivering sustainable agreement. The ceasefire and aid trucks are to be embraced. But this is not currently political progress. Without processes securing Palestinian involvement and control over their own establishments, any deal endangers cementing subjugation under the language of peace.

Humanitarian Priorities and Recovery Hurdles

Gaza’s people desperately need humanitarian aid – and nutrition and medication must be the initial concern. But restoration must not be delayed. Among 60 million tonnes of wreckage, Palestinians need support repairing residences, learning institutions, hospitals, mosques and other establishments devastated by Israel’s invasion. For Gaza’s interim government to thrive, funding must flow quickly and protection voids be remedied.

Like a large portion of the president's diplomatic proposal, mentions to an international stabilisation force and a proposed “board of peace” are worryingly ambiguous.

Worldwide Endorsement and Prospective Outcomes

Robust worldwide endorsement for the Gaza's governing body, allowing it to take over from Hamas, is likely the most hopeful scenario. The immense hardship of the previous 24 months means the ethical argument for a settlement to the conflict is possibly more urgent than ever. But although the truce, the repatriation of the hostages and pledge by Hamas to “disarm” Gaza should be recognized as positive steps, Donald Trump's history gives little reason to have faith he will fulfill – or deem himself compelled to attempt. Immediate respite should not be interpreted as that the possibility of a Palestinian state has been moved nearer.