It’s ‘peace in the Middle East.’
‘An everlasting peace’, according to one Donald J. Trump, sounding a little Biblical.
Hey, quick side note, but remember when the Israel Heritage Foundation gifted Trump with an award, calling him the ‘Prince of Peace’? Which seems to be a reference to the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. That was a bit strange.
But Donald Trump’s ‘Peace Plan’ appears to be moving forward. Both Israel and Hamas appear to have provisionally agreed to the terms.
It all sounds optimistic. But how much of this celebratory tone is more marketing hype than workable solution?
People have been shown in the streets celebrating, both in Israel and in Gaza.
But what are they celebrating? The Israeli hostages could’ve been returned eighteen months ago, when Biden was still president – but the Netanyahu government didn’t want it. Many of the dead hostages would’ve still been alive at that point.
And though a great sense of relief is understandable after a two year nightmare, the sight of Gazan children celebrating amid a backdrop of rubble and dust as far as the eye can see feels somewhat surreal and incongruous.
And what does ‘peace’ *mean* at this point?
You can’t discuss ‘peace’ without discussing war: and the reality is that there hasn’t been a ‘War in Gaza’ for some time. A ‘war’ requires two sides to be fighting – what’s been happening in Gaza is not a war but a decimation.
After some 67,000 deaths, 20,000 of those reportedly children, and an utterly destroyed Gaza with barely a building still standing… is anything really definable as ‘peace’?
Or is that the price of this peace? Near-obliteration, unliveable conditions, and complete relinquishment of self-determination rights?
Notice there is no hint of future Palestinian statehood in these plans?
Amid all the excitement and self-congratulatory rhetoric, did any of the talking heads bother to notice that there was actually no Palestinian representation whatsoever in formulating this plan?
Or that the Israelis haven’t just demanded that Hamas have no future presence in governing Gaza (which is reasonable), but that the Palestinian Authority is also barred?
Instead, an international body, headed by Trump himself, and including Tony Blair, will supposedly oversee affairs in Gaza.
But for how long and to what end?
By the way, the Tony Blair thing isn’t a new development. The Israelis have been pushing for Blair to oversee Gaza since at least November 2023, weeks after the Hamas attack. Blair and Jared Kushner were both involved in these current discussions.
The absence of Palestinian representation in formulating these plans of course evokes old-school Colonialist powers sitting around and deciding the fate of lesser peoples (a recurring theme I also explored in this article about the New Colonialist Era).
Also, Gaza is rubble. It is not a functioning territory anymore. The hospitals are destroyed, along with schools, homes, entire residential areas, basic infrastructure, etc.
So where are all these people supposed to live? How are they going to have basic day-to-day necessities?
And who is going to rebuild Gaza? And who’ll be paying for it?
All of this is of course also assuming that the Israelis will abide by the terms currently on the table – which we’ve seen more than once isn’t a given.
The recent attack on the negotiators in Qatar, and the bombing of Iran in the very midst of US/Iran talks, were both examples of Israel being a bad faith actor.
All it takes is one Hamas or Hamas inspired attack or hostile act – or a false-flag simulating a Hamas act – and the Israelis can abandon the whole thing and pick up where they left off.
The Trump administration doesn’t have the diligence or the attention span to stay with this situation for long: and Israel is a master manipulator.
The long game might be to simply let Trump have his ‘peace’ victory and revel in it for a while: and then simply find a way to push on. Because it seems inescapable that Israel can’t accept having come this far only to be forced to stop before “total victory”.
It’s been well established that they want Gaza. And the Greater Israel project isn’t a conspiracy theory anymore, but a widely understood objective to fulfil the Promised Land – it can’t even stop at Gaza.
And that’s not even thinking about what happens in the West Bank, where the maneuvering and the provocations are at an all-time high.
And by the way, the Israeli insistence on the Palestinian Authority being frozen out the peace plan is clearly to prevent any movement towards international legitimacy or Palestinian statehood.
Look, let’s hope there’s some kind of lasting peace. That the bombing and occupation can end. That aid can arrive. That people can have a chance to breathe, to recover, to mourn, to bury the dead, and to conceive of some way forward.
Maybe what we’re now seeing is the first steps in that direction. If so, Trump deserves applause. Hell, let him have the Nobel Peace Prize if he wants it: although him winning the prize would probably be where his attention to the situation ends and thus where Israel would be able to break faith.
We can be forgiven for caution or scepticism at this point.
And again, there hasn’t been a ‘war’ in Gaza for some time: a ‘war’ requires two sides to be fighting each other. It hasn’t been a ‘war’, but a decimation.
And this ‘peace’ needs to address that decimation. Because rebuilding Gaza will take years. It may take a generation.
And what of accountability? Has there been any talk at all of Israel being held to account for its actions? About international law being brought to bear on both the Israeli state and its various enablers?
If Hamas has to disarm and cease to exist for its murderous actions, what of Israel? What price for its murderous actions?
I haven’t even seen this point raised this week, let alone discussed.
In giving up the last remaining Israeli hostages, Hamas really is showing good faith: because it is giving up the only leverage it has.
What is Israel being asked to do to likewise show good faith? The US will continue to shield it from the International Criminal Court in any event.
If we’re going to allow for some much needed optimism, then yes, let’s hope for a lasting peace and good faith agreement.
But it may ultimately be peace without justice. Is that something to celebrate? Maybe. But also don’t be surprised if this turns out to be a moment of false promise; or just more smoke and mirrors.
