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The reprieve brought by the halt in hostilities in Gaza is profound. Across Israel, the freeing of surviving detainees has sparked extensive joy. Across Palestinian territories, celebrations are taking place as as many as 2,000 Palestinian prisoners begin their release – although anguish remains due to ambiguity about the identities of those released and their destinations. In northern Gaza, residents can at last go back to search the debris for the remains of an estimated 10,000 unaccounted-for individuals.

Truce Development Despite Prior Uncertainty

Only three weeks ago, the probability of a ceasefire looked improbable. Yet it has taken effect, and on Monday Donald Trump departed Jerusalem, where he was cheered in the Knesset, to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. There, he attended a high-level peace conference of more than 20 world leaders, featuring Sir Keir Starmer. The diplomatic roadmap initiated there is set to advance at a conference in the UK. The US president, working alongside international partners, managed to secure this deal come to fruition – regardless of, not because of, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dreams of Independence Qualified by Past Precedents

Aspirations that the deal signifies the first step toward Palestinian statehood are comprehensible – but, considering previous instances, rather hopeful. It offers no clear path to independence for Palestinians and threatens separating, for the foreseeable future, Gaza from the West Bank. Furthermore the utter devastation this war has produced. The omission of any timeframe for Palestinian self-determination in the US initiative contradicts self-aggrandizing references, in his Knesset speech, to the “epochal beginning” of a “golden age”.

Donald Trump was unable to refrain from dividing and making personal the deal in his speech.

In a moment of respite – with the hostage release, halt in fighting and renewal of aid – he decided to reinterpret it as a morality play in which he alone reinstated Israel’s honor after purported treachery by past US commanders-in-chief Obama and Biden. This even as the Biden administration a year ago having undertaken a analogous arrangement: a truce linked to aid delivery and future political talks.

Meaningful Agency Essential for Authentic Resolution

A initiative that refuses one side substantive control cannot yield legitimate peace. The ceasefire and humanitarian convoys are to be welcomed. But this is not currently diplomatic advancement. Without systems securing Palestinian involvement and authority over their own organizations, any deal endangers freezing oppression under the discourse of peace.

Relief Imperatives and Rebuilding Obstacles

Gaza’s people urgently require emergency support – and nutrition and medication must be the primary focus. But restoration must not be delayed. Within 60 million tonnes of rubble, Palestinians need help reconstructing homes, schools, healthcare facilities, mosques and other establishments shattered by Israel’s incursion. For Gaza’s transitional administration to thrive, funding must arrive promptly and safety deficiencies be remedied.

Like a large portion of the president's resolution initiative, allusions to an global peacekeeping unit and a recommended “board of peace” are alarmingly vague.

Global Backing and Prospective Outcomes

Robust worldwide endorsement for the Palestinian leadership, enabling it to take over from Hamas, is likely the most encouraging prospect. The tremendous pain of the recent period means the humanitarian imperative for a solution to the conflict is potentially more urgent than ever. But even as the ceasefire, the homecoming of the detainees and pledge by Hamas to “remove weapons from” Gaza should be recognized as positive steps, Mr Trump’s history gives little reason to trust he will fulfill – or deem himself compelled to try. Immediate respite does not imply that the possibility of a Palestinian state has been brought closer.