Gaza, Trump & The Possibility of Peace

On 29 September, more than two weeks ago now, US President Donald Trump unveiled his "20-point Gaza peace plan" alongside war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, which included a comprehensive, enduring, and lasting ceasefire as stated in the third point of the respected plan. Just after writing my first blog post last week, it was announced that both the Israeli forces and Hamas leadership had agreed to the plan, with both the former and latter having agreed to just the first phase of Trump's so-called attempt at peace in the Middle East.

Although, the plan itself isn't exactly broken up into phases, it is merely separated into points. Couple this with the fact that the plan as a whole doesn't exactly have any promised (written) security guarantees for the Palestinian plight, and it's almost like both sides of governance, including and especially the Israeli side, seem to be playing semantical gymnastics so that in the future every card is still on the table. Nevertheless, I digress…

That was 9 October.

The same day, it was reported by Al Jazeera that the Israeli forces had broken the ceasefire, killing at least 11, with many others injured (reported by the Gaza Health Ministry). Bringing the total civilian casualty rate in Gaza and also the West Bank (where Hamas does not even govern) to around 68,000 — undeniably a barbaric slaughter. An unequivocal genocide. So what now…

As stated above, nearly 70,000 innocence, with many of them women and children, have lost their lives at the behest of the Israeli occupants since October 2023. What many also forget, though, is that that's not all, not even close: each and every relative of each and every casualty in the region has been scarred to such a point now that building bridges is no longer an option.

Parents held their children while they bled out over the sand-scaped war zone. Similarly, children watched their parents drone-struck to death by some of the most advanced technical weaponry on the planet.

Were they Hamas?

Seven times as many civilians have been killed as Hamas members in Gaza, the latter of whom they allege they seek to destroy.

Were they Hamas?

How about the nearly 1,000 dead in the West Bank? Again, an area in Palestine that Hamas does not even govern, who were brutally murdered while their loved ones were left to watch and wonder: Why me? Allah swt knows!

Were they Hamas?

No, no, and no.

Parents made childless, children made orphans, wives made widows, and families torn apart. Live-streamed for millions to see, countries to condemn, and courts to charge. All of that happened and yet nothing changed. Israeli forces carried out their brutal slaughter even in the face of mass condemnation by people and countries alike, with even an arrest warrant being issued by the ICC, the highest international court of criminal prosecution, against both Netanyahu and his defence minister accusing both of war crimes, crimes against humanity, mass starvation, and other inhumane acts. Even then, nothing seemed to change — why was that then…

Since 7 October 2023, the US under both Biden and now the Trump admin has provided around $22 billion in military aid and $40 billion in arms sales amounting to an enormous $60 billion total in just a two-year time frame making Israel the single largest recipient of US military aid ever and the third highest ever in receiving arms.

For some reason, this remains bipartisan policy…

It has become comical how often the two parties in the US clash and disagree over the most minute and unimportant policy. Yet, irrespective of whether it is under a democratic governance like last year, or a republican one like now, the issue of Israel remains bipartisan. So much so that the latest foreign-aid package passed last year in the Senate, which provided Israel with an undisclosed amount, was passed with a vote of 79–18 with mass support from both democrats and republicans alike.

Even when blocks are put forward… votes remain near unanimous.

There are many theories as to why this is, but the fact of the matter is that so long as the US fills the pockets of the Israeli state, the whole world could look back in condemnation, and very little would change. Sad.

Having said that, I do actually believe that the terror that has been inflicted upon Gaza for over two years now is finally coming to an end, I also believe that had Biden stayed in power, or even a new Harris admin altogether, it would not have resulted in a deal being brokered but the same old funneling of money that we are all so used to as of now — I do think it is Trump that has made this plan come to fruition. That's not to say that it isn't likely for anything other than nefarious reasons, such as ego-fueling prizes, one that a certain somebody can't stop touting about.

I must also stress that we are talking about Israel here, a belligerent state, of course, but also and equally so, a state known infamously for not being able to keep a promise. Most notably, the breakage of the current ceasefire on the same day they had agreed to it; it becomes comical, but as soon as you realise again that lives are at stake, the humour quickly fades into sorrow.

What many have seemed to forget, though, is the fact that there have already been two previous ceasefires during this conflict: one under Biden in November 2023, and one allegedly brokered by the very same Trump in January of this year while he was President-elect. The latter was evidently broken and the Trump admin seemed to quickly go from taking all the credit for their glorious efforts of securing a ceasefire even before inauguration, to throwing it all on Biden the moment it was broken.

I'm sceptical.

Unfortunately, the possibility of peace is certainly still up in the air, and as already mentioned, the more you read into this so-called peace plan, the more you find the cracks and errors hiding within it (e.g. no written security guarantees, no collective defence measure akin to NATO's Article 5, etc.) Also, for one, I'm not here to have a conversation on why it wouldn't make sense for the US to protect Palestine the same way it would protect Israel — the Palestinians have suffered enough, and, for all I care, all countries, including and especially the US, should be (1) stepping up to strengthen the Palestinians state security and (2) help rebuild the very state they helped destroy.

Even so, a ceasefire is a ceasefire, and we are certainly in a much better position today than we were a year ago today — but my only question is: Why did it have to take Trump 10 months to finally put his foot down and put an end to all of this? Well, I guess it wasn't America after all…

Jazak Allah khair for your time and attention throughout!

Faithfully, STN.