EVEN though American President Donald Trump believes that his grand 20-point Gaza plan will bring ‘eternal’ peace to the Middle East, it is doubtful that the scheme will help achieve a just solution to the Arab-Israeli dispute.

It is a biased document, protecting Israel and putting all the onus for creating the conditions of peace on the Palestinian factions. The only two positives the plan contains are the prospects of the cessation of war and the resumption of aid to the battered Gaza Strip. These faint hopes, too, are premised on the assumption that Hamas will surrender before Washington and Tel Aviv. Mr Trump on Tuesday gave the Palestinian group between three and four days to consider the proposal.

As per the plan, Hamas has been ordered to surrender its weapons, while it has been decided that the group will have no future role in Gaza. Opinions may be divided on Hamas. However, it should be left to the Palestinian people to decide which groups should or should not participate in their national politics; no outside power has a right to dictate the terms.

Moreover, the ‘Board of Peace’ the plan wants to put in place to manage Gaza after the ceasefire has a distinctly colonial whiff to it, not unlike the Mandate System of the League of Nations.

Luminaries including Mr Trump and former British prime minister Tony Blair will oversee Gaza and guide the Palestinian natives until they are fit to rule themselves.

The Trumpian plan makes no mention of accountability for Israel, particularly for the genocide it has unleashed upon Gaza. There is no guarantee that in case of future conflict, Tel Aviv will not target Palestinian civilians yet again. In fact, Mr Trump has assured Tel Aviv that should Hamas reject this grand bargain, Israel can “do what you have to do”, which means taking the Gaza genocide to its ‘logical’ conclusion. Additionally, there is no guarantee that Israel will stop building illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Regarding Pakistan’s role, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was part of the group of Muslim nations that discussed the plan with Mr Trump and has offered fulsome praise for it. But there is a need to reflect.

The initial reaction in the country, from parties on the left and right, as well as ordinary citizens, has been overwhelmingly negative.

People view the document as an instrument of surrender designed to protect Israel and give the Palestinians a raw deal, once again. There was also talk of this country, along with other states, deploying a ‘peacekeeping force’ in Gaza. Before any such endeavour, parliament must be taken on board, and no step should be taken that goes against Pakistan’s principled stand in support of the Palestinian people.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2025