Oct 06, 2025, DM (by Ameen Izzadeen): Those who believe that US President Donald Trump’s so-called 20-point peace plan is a workable solution to end the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip understand neither the sinister designs of the Zionists and their partners in crime nor the root causes of the Palestinian question in its full complexity.
The plan is Balfour Declaration 2.0, for it deliberately and derisively sidelines the Palestinians. No consultation was held with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
If the plan receives the approval of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas—blamed for the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and for triggering the war—what will dawn over Gaza is not peace, but the peace of the graveyard, wherein will be buried the Palestinians’ quest for freedom and humanity’s conscience. The 20-point plan does not offer peace with justice. Any peace deal that fails to address justice and accountability is not worth the paper it’s written on. The rightful place for Trump’s plan is not Gaza, but the garbage bin of history.
After meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—alias the butcher of Gaza—at the White House, Trump announced on Monday his formula to end the Gaza war. It is more a choreography of deceit than a genuine effort at peace with justice. After all, Trump has enabled the Gaza genocide through the appalling abuse of his country’s veto power at the UN Security Council and the relentless military and financial aid to Israel. The velvet dagger peace plan resonated more with Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize ambitions and Netanyahu’s designs to annex Gaza than with any sincere intention to deliver the Palestinian people from the yoke of Israeli occupation.
The so-called “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” is primarily a formula to affirm Israel’s control over Palestinian lives and to indefinitely delay the creation of a Palestinian state. It also seeks to stem growing anti-Israeli sentiments in the US.
Yet those who are traumatised by the horrific scenes on their mobile phones and TV screens—scenes of children being killed, maimed and starved to death—say Hamas should accept the proposal and let the Palestinians live and rebuild their lives.
They say this is the last chance to end the genocide, for Trump’s plan says, “If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end.”
Buried beneath the semantics lies a trap that could virtually end any chance of a Palestinian state. The plan leads Palestinians through a minefield toward a promised land none will survive to reach. Time and again, they have walked similar peace paths, only to see Israel shift the goalposts and impose new demands. Given Israel’s record of trickery, the Trump plan is destined to meet the same fate.
Coinciding with Trump’s proposal was Netanyahu’s declaration that there would never be a Palestinian state. His Jewish extremist cabinet colleagues have already rejected the plan. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slammed it as “a resounding diplomatic failure.” Some have even warned they would resign from the Cabinet. Yet the Zionists know how to derail peace proposals, prolong occupation, and expand their borders. They need only one false flag operation for Netanyahu to resume the genocide and “finish the job”.
The plan begins with a declaration that Gaza will be a deradicalised, terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours. But “deradicalisation” is a euphemism for subjugation, erasing the core reality of Israel’s occupation. Under international law, resisting occupation is a legitimate right. By calling for deradicalisation and demilitarisation and demanding a terror-free Gaza, the US plan leaves no room for lawful resistance, effectively asking Palestinians to accept the humiliation of occupation as their destiny and live as dehumanised, disenfranchised, stateless subjects.
Conditioned on total Hamas surrender and exile, the plan envisages the release of all hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the resumption of aid delivery, the rebuilding of Gaza’s hospitals and other infrastructure, and a staggered withdrawal of Israeli troops. An international stabilization force (ISF), comprising troops from Arab and Islamic countries, will be deployed.
The most controversial proposal concerns the creation of a Peace Board headed by Trump. Playing a key role will be former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who, many say, belongs not in Gaza but at the International Criminal Court for his war crimes in Iraq. The board will oversee the transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee tasked with managing the day-to-day delivery of public services and municipal functions in Gaza.
To sugarcoat the surrender document, the plan also envisages the emergence of a modern city from the piles of rubble—one that will attract investment, create jobs, and offer hope for a prosperous Gaza.
Then there is the guarantee that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. Yet the plan permits an Israeli troop presence in the territory. According to its terms, withdrawal depends on “standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens.” But who decides what these standards, milestones, and timeframes are? And who determines whether Gaza still poses a security threat to Israel and Egypt? Who else but Israel?
The plan states that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF, based on an agreement to be made with the transitional authority, until a full withdrawal is completed—except for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is deemed secure from any resurgent terror threat. This provision makes clear that Israeli troops will continue to remain in Gaza for as long as deemed strategically necessary.
Even as Hamas is studying the plan, there is no let-up in Israel’s genocidal campaign. Instead of asking Israel to scale down operations, Trump issues a four-day ultimatum to Hamas to accept the deal.
If the process moves forward, Israel stands to benefit from multibillion-dollar contracts to rebuild Gaza. This is what socialist writer Naomi Klein calls “disaster capitalism”. There is profit not only in war but also in post-war reconstruction. Although some view Trump’s plan as promising, it addresses symptoms not the root cause; it renders the creation of a Palestinian state nearly impossible. It places such a state on a distant horizon and vaguely promises that a credible pathway to it will eventually be established. That pathway is conditioned on the removal of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority “faithfully” implementing a reform programme. This is a ruse to indefinitely delay Palestinian statehood. The PA is experienced enough to govern Palestine even now. Notably, Trump’s plan deliberately omits any mention of the internationally accepted 1967 borders.
The Trump plan may halt the killings temporarily, but it effectively outlaws resistance to occupation. Whether Trump builds a Riviera or not, Gaza will remain an open prison—as it has been since 1967.
