The US led 20-point peace plan is an Oslo-style incremental roadmap for ending Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Implementing peace plan, however, will require colossal international and regional pressure on Israel and Hamas which up till now has been fictitious.

Previous Gaza initiatives were little more than cease-fires, whereas this plan would immediately end the war and force both Israel and Hamas out of ruling Gaza. Given that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza and Hamas is responsible for war crimes, including on October 7^th, this would be for the best. As during Oslo process, the plan is incremental with no timeline for Israel to remove its forces or end its military occupation which without pressure will drag into years. Meanwhile Hamas, Palestine’s most powerful resistance movement, will not disappear until the primary reason for its existence, Israel’s military occupation of Palestine, also ends.

The peace plan, however, brings much needed hope and demonstrates some shifting of positions. Hamas has said it is willing to hand over administration of Gaza to an independent Palestinian body with the support of Arab states. The Israeli government ordered IDF to pause its operation to take control of Gaza City, switching to ‘defensive operations’. However, with no timeline for Israeli withdrawal from its current levels of control to the ‘yellow line’ (hostage release), nor an urgent immediate deployment of the temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) instigating IDF’s withdrawal to the red line or a full withdrawal, there are many places where the plan would likely unravel.  

Gaza governed by a temporary transitional, technocratic and apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services, is a workable compromise. The refusal to accept Hamas’ 2005 election win and imposing sanctions on the Gaza territory only emboldened and enriched Hamas and punished civilians. Although former PM Tony Blair has not been a popular choice for the transitioning international body to oversee the process, Blair had played a constructive role in the Northern Ireland conflict, including bringing in former IRA terrorists out of the cold into constructive dialogue contributing to ending the conflict. Blair was also a member of the Middle East Peace Quartet, well known for its limited mandate and actions due of the inability of EU, UN, Russians, and Americans to agree on anything beyond humanitarian aid. Although having Trump sitting as a head of an international transitional body is also not ideal, it beats having a dysfunctioning body that cannot agree to anything beyond band aid solutions.

For now, the 20-point plan is the only plan in town to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza, free the remaining hostages and pull Israel out of its endless warmongering, which has become self-destructive as the world has had enough. Israel should be pressured into an inclusive mediation process that engages the Palestinian Authority and a representation of Israeli and Palestinian elected officials including women, as well as civil society. Gazans, however, cannot wait for a full-fledged mediation agreement ending Israeli occupation or a trial of Israeli political leadership, which may never come. What is needed is colossal pressure by all countries on Israel and Palestinian factions to implement the plan and begin the long road to peace.