US President Donald Trump’s aspiration for Nobel Peace Prize for this year remained unfulfilled as the award went to Maria Corina Machado from Venezuela. However, President Trump took swift steps to get the first phase of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas concluded so that peace in the Middle East could be instrumental to win him the award for this year in line with his frequent claims that since he assumed office for the second term, he has been playing a crucial role as a peacemaker in mediating several active conflicts around the world. Meanwhile, White House declared the President as ‘Peace President’ and a host of countries had nominated him for the prize as well.
The peace plan in its first phase includes release and exchange of hostages by Israel and Hamas for which civilians of Israel and Palestine have been desperately waiting for. The 20-point peace plan floated by President Trump seeks both parties to stop fighting and Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and all will ensure that enough food and medicine enter Gaza to end the humanitarian crisis.
Both Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of the plan. The military and organisational strength of Hamas has been considerably weakened whereas several of its leaders have been killed. Although Hamas retained some of its asymmetric capabilities to harm Israeli forces, the devastation that Israeli forces precipitated wreaked havoc in Gaza and alienated the militant group from civilians. The group also lost assistance from staunch allies such as Hezbollah and Iran whose military capabilities were also dented by Israel. This support could have been vital to reenergize the group to reorganize and muster strength. Hence, Hamas was waiting for such a deal that would put a grinding halt to Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Israel has agreed to the proposal because its leader Benjamin Netanyahu has no choice but to reckon with the fact that his country has been isolated internationally to an unprecedented level whereas support for Palestinian statehood has ballooned. In a vote at the UN in September this year on the question of Palestinian statehood while as many as 142 countries voted for the establishment of the Palestinian state, only a meagre 10 states voted against.
The Trump administration has so far been supportive of Israeli operations in Gaza with its continued provision of military assistance to Israel despite the sordid facts that the war on every single day inflated statistics of woeful tragedies of civilian deaths, displacements and deprivation from basic humanitarian necessities of Palestinians.
President Trump, aside from his craving for becoming a Nobel laureate, his peace plan falls squarely with his soft corner for Israel. President Trump together with Netanyahu must have understood that the Israel’s unstinted military campaign in Gaza has not only turned Israel unpopular globally, it has undermined the American clout globally and in the Middle East as well by undercutting the possibilities of taking forward the peace process between Israel and Arab states in the region. Further, the continued Israeli campaign would make the demand for Palestinian statehood so much globally resonant that it would be difficult for the US to ignore it. President Trump’s peace plan cools down such fervent claims for Palestinian statehood and seeks to place them in cold storage for an indefinite period.
Intricacies as the Plan Proceeds
As the plan proceeds, Gaza will be placed under the supervision of a transitional authority comprising the representatives of Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a civil arm of Palestinian authority.
It will require Hamas to leave Gaza. However, the group is reported to have stated that the requirements of the peace plan for Hamas members to leave the Gaza Strip is “absurd” and it further stated that the militant group will “repel aggression” if hostilities by Israel resume. Similarly, the Hamas is reported to have declined to disarm itself by saying that the proposed weapons handover is “out of the question and not negotiable”. Considering these predicaments, the success of the proposal that elections must be conducted in Gaza within a year seems remote.
The plan lacks the modalities to address the issues associated with Israeli settlements in West Bank. The peace plan clearly lacks a framework to address the deeper concerns of Palestinians to methodically deal with the core issue of ending the Israeli occupation of their territory beyond assurances. The flames of war, hatred and tensions will likely continue between Israel and Palestine as long as Palestinians are not allowed independent territory free from humiliation and eviction that persists in West Bank. Peace between the two will likely be temporary as most of the Israelis still firmly oppose the idea of Palestinian statehood. Beyond the ceasefire and exchange of hostages, Trump’s Peace Plan that focuses on the end of the rule of Hamas in Gaza and post-war reconstruction under an interim authority will be implausible to materialize. While the peace plan seeks to end the war by keeping Hamas out of the corridors of power, it clearly fails to engage with popular leaders of and represent credible voices from Palestine for securing long-term peace.