The challenge of Trump's plan for Gaza

The second anniversary of the Gaza war arrives this week with an opportunity for a ceasefire on the table. It is the peace plan agreed upon by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, two leaders not exactly known for being pacifists or lovers of dialogue, but who find themselves in a clear position of strength. On the other side of the table is Hamas, a terrorist and ultraconservative organization, however desperate it may be. The future of the people of Gaza depends on leaders who have not made dialogue their greatest virtue. But at the same time, an agreement is more necessary than ever: Gazans are starving, and, according to the authorities in the Strip, at least 67,000 have already died as a result of this conflict.

Faced with increasingly evident international unrest – the demonstration against genocide this Saturday in Barcelona, ​​​​to cite the closest example, it has been multitudinous–, the American and Israeli leaders have been forced to take a step forward. Faced with the unsustainable situation for its own people, Hamas has been forced to open the door to an agreement it views with suspicion.

The Israeli army has announced that it is putting it on hold operations to conquer Gaza City, as Trump had demanded, but this halt is not as noticeable on the ground. This Saturday, as of 10 p.m., hospitals in the Gaza Strip had counted at least 70 deaths from Israeli fire, 47 of whom were believed to have died in Gaza City.

It doesn't seem like everything is the best foundation for building a lasting peace, but it's the only one that exists. We have no choice but to try with all our might.

Now it remains to be seen whether, with this proposal, Trump is going beyond a personal marketing operation at the international level; that is, whether he takes it seriously. If so, he will likely have some more work to do, because Hamas will demand some kind of guarantee to release its only remaining bargaining chip: the hostages it has still held captive for two years. And the Netanyahu government will face internal problems if it accepts the existence of a Palestinian state.

It also remains to be seen what the US president intends to do with Gaza. If beyond the macabre jokes about turning the Strip into a tourist resort has some real plans, now that he intends to assume control of it through what he calls a peace council, an organization he wants to chair.

For two years, Gaza has been suffering a bloody siege against its citizens that can be described as genocide, as it has concluded The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Territories. A genocide that, in turn, is the response to the carnage perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, two years ago. But the situation in Gaza, Palestine, and Israel cannot be analyzed by looking only at the last two years. It has been unsustainable for too long, and Palestinians have been drowning in a dead end of despair. To address the problem in a sound manner will require a comprehensive rethinking that does not overlook the causes or how we got here.