Palestinians in Gaza have received the peace plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday with a mix of cautious optimism, skepticism, and one simple question: Don’t we have a say?
Beleaguered and besieged Gazans view the deal to end the war and place the enclave under an international governing board as both the long-awaited end to a devastating conflict but also as potentially signing away self-determination.
Most wrestle with what they see as a fundamental flaw in the Trump peace deal, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to at the White House on Monday: It is an agreement for the future of Gaza in which Gazans have no voice.
Why We Wrote This
Like other recent plans for the “day after” war ends in Gaza, the Trump ceasefire plan was formulated without direct input from Gazans. As they react with both optimism and skepticism, a major concern is that they don’t give up on self-determination.
“This is an American-Israeli plan that did not consult any Palestinian party or seek any Palestinian’s opinion,” says Thabet al-Amour, a writer and political analyst in Gaza. “It is a plan laden with conditions and demands and offers nothing that will help the Palestinian people free themselves from occupation.”
Mr. Trump’s proposed plan bore many similarities, however, to others formulated recently by France and Saudi Arabia and previously by Arab states, with input from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
The 20-point plan includes Hamas’ release of all Israeli hostages, staged Israeli military withdrawals from Gaza, a full-scale resumption of aid from multiple crossings, and, crucially, Arab and Muslim governments disarming Hamas. A reconstruction period administered by a technocratic interim government would be overseen by an international board headed by President Trump himself.
Many Gaza residents interviewed for this story voiced support for a future in which Hamas would no longer be in power.
Relief, uncertainty
Hamas said on Monday it was studying the proposal “responsibly” and discussed the peace deal with Qatari and Turkish officials on Tuesday.
An Arab diplomatic source expressed optimism that the added Turkish pressure, absent in previous negotiations, and united Arab support will press Hamas to accept the deal. There were also reports, however, of Arab anger at last-minute Israeli edits to the Trump plan that were not shared before it was announced.
Reports from multiple media outlets, including CBS News, expected Hamas to give its answer Wednesday.
The militant group has until Thursday to agree to the deal and release hostages to prevent its collapse and the intensification of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza City as part of a 72-hour ultimatum. That threat hung over the uncertainty in Gaza as Palestinians grappled with the deal’s potential impact on their daily lives.
Palestinians in Gaza City said they were awaiting Hamas’ approval or rejection of the deal to decide whether to flee the besieged city.
But all agreed that a lull in violence was welcome.
“Any proposal that stops the bloodshed we are experiencing is welcome,” says Salem al-Bayouk, a social worker and father of six. “I support it as a return to the situation as it was before the war.”
However, Palestinians across the political spectrum say they balk at an international entity governing their daily lives – and are concerned by a lack of guarantees ensuring that the interim international “board of peace” will hand over the Strip to the Palestinian Authority.
“Some aspects of the deal have benefits that could accrue to us: an end to the genocide, massacres, and killing,” says Ramy al-Aqad, a father of three. “However, some of the other provisions are unfair to us, such as a non-Palestinian administration.
“‘Reconstructing Gaza’ without details is vague,” says Mr. Aqad. “The plan is exclusionary.”
“Any government outside the Palestinian Authority is a circumvention of the Palestinian cause,” says Mr. Bayouk. “We want to govern ourselves, because when someone other than us rules us, it is a deception and a joke.”
Concerns remain among Palestinians that President Trump still eyes Gaza as a real estate development deal – such as his much-maligned “Gaza Riviera” plan, which would have developed the beachfront Strip and expelled its residents.
“Gaza was beautiful as it was. We don’t want smart cities or miracle cities, we want our own Gaza,” says Mr. Bayouk. “Trump treats Gaza as a commercial deal, like any of his other deals, and does not treat us as a people.”
The debate over the benefits of the deal came as the Israeli offensive continued to kill Palestinians.
At least 50 people, including five aid-seekers, were killed and another 184 were wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
A farewell to Hamas, and its arms?
Multiple Gazans say they are ready for Hamas to give up governing the Strip – which it has ruled since ousting its rival Fatah in a bloody civil conflict in 2008 – a concession the militant movement repeatedly said it was willing to make throughout the war.
The idea of an apolitical technocratic government – a concept found floated in multiple day-after proposals – was welcome, they say, as long as it is Palestinian.
“It is better for the Gaza Strip to be governed by technocrats who have experience in civil humanitarian work,” says Reham Owda, a writer and political analyst. “The experience of the war in Gaza has proved to us that political factions have not provided any support to the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, not even the price of a tent. They have failed miserably.”
The issue of Hamas laying down its arms, even as it faced an onslaught from Israel, was deemed acceptable, if Israel ends its occupation and statehood is achieved.
“As for Hamas’ disarmament, if we have a state, the world recognized, and we are liberated, there will be no need for any weapons outside the police,” says Mr. Bayouk.
“The term ‘disarmament’ is exaggerated,” says Dr. Owda, who expressed concern that the issue of disarmament could be used by the Israeli government as grounds to back out of the deal, reoccupy Gaza, and resume its war. “The Palestinian resistance does not possess tanks or warplanes, all it possesses are primitive weapons. Most of the tunnels in Gaza have been destroyed. Netanyahu should not be given any pretext to destroy Gaza.”
The involvement of Arab and Muslim nations in the process was viewed positively as a preferred option over Israeli military rule.
“Most of these Arab forces will be able to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority over their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the future,” says Dr. Owda. “I believe this is better than negotiating with Israeli forces, from a practical standpoint.”
Even as Gazans await an end to war, displacement, and hunger in the short term, their future statehood and self-determination remain front of mind as the Trump deal hangs in the balance.
“Any plan that ends the war is welcome, but the price must be reasonable and acceptable,” says Mr. Amour, the writer. “People are not fighting for food or drink; they only want an independent state, sovereignty, the lifting of the siege, freedom of movement, and an end to settlements [in the West Bank].”
