There is cautious optimism on Trump’s Gaza peace plan

The Iraq experience, according to experts, teaches that violence may seem the only option to those who have no role in the political process

- A. L. CHOUGULE

Coming quite close on the heels of the recent decisions by the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Australia to recognise the state of Palestine, hailed as a “historic turning point”, US President Donald Trumps peace plan for Gaza to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war, which has devastated Gaza’s infrastructure, killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, and caused mass starvation, has been welcomed by the European, Middle Eastern, and other leaders across the world. Though many people are either sceptical or cautiously optimistic about its success after the Hamas-Israel agreement for the first phase of the ceasefire, there are still many looking forward to the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza and a guarantee that hostilities will not resume, though it is not obvious in the current plan.

As Trump had expressed the possibility that Hamas might reject the plan, stressing the need to confront the group directly, it is apparent that Hamas did not have a seat at the table where the plan was devised, may be in close contact with Israel in a way acceptable to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In fact, there seems to have been little or no Palestinian voice in the development of the plan, though some Arab countries were reportedly kept in the loop. However, the Trump plan has the backing of all major Middle Eastern governments and major Islamic states, except Iran. Obviously, Hamas has given in to international pressure and Trump’s threat to accept the deal, which hopefully will end two years of nightmare for the Gazans.