Palestinians return home, facing immense challenges

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are trying to return to the piles of rubble that once were their homes, aid trucks are ready to move tons of medicine and food, and the tanks and artillery of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) have been pulling out of Gaza City.

- ROBERT FOX

These are the first signs that the initial phase of the Trump peace plan for Gaza is underway.

But we have to wait until noon local time tomorrow to have a real clue that the opening provisions of the plan are working. That is the deadline for the release of some 20 Israeli hostages still thought to be alive, and for the handing over of some 28 bodies of Israeli captives - though it is feared that some cannot be located now.

The success or failure of the Trump plan in the long-term pivots on one word, and one concept - stabilisation. The plan itself is a strange mixture of blunt practicality and lofty, pious ambition. “Gaza will be a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours,” states the first point. The last point, number 20, declares, “The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.” This is an aspiration that has eluded national powers, insurgent movements and international bodies almost since Arthur Balfour raised the issue of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East in his letter to Lord Rothschild 108 years ago.