By the Editorial Board of La Jornada, September 30, 2025 from Mexico City
protest of Netanyahu in Washington DC, July 2024, photo: Bill Hackwell
After President Donald Trump held a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House released the “comprehensive plan to end the conflict in Gaza” agreed upon by the leaders. Of the 20 points contained in the document, only one (point 12: no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave may do so and return freely) does not represent nonsense or a crime against humanity.
The rest is a string of nonsense and grievances ranging from the absurdity of expecting the survivors of the Palestinian holocaust to form a “technocratic and apolitical committee” to manage public and municipal services, to guarantees that Gaza will be a concentration camp surrounded by Israeli troops in perpetuity and the installation of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the de facto viceroy of the territory.
Although Trump gave the armed movement Hamas 72 hours to comply with the agreement and release the dozens of hostages still in its hands, including the bodies of those who have died in Tel Aviv’s indiscriminate bombings, in reality the position of those who were democratically elected to govern Gaza, Hamas, has no bearing on the implementation of the plan. This is made clear in point 17 (“if Hamas delays or rejects the proposal, the plan will continue in the terrorism-free areas already handed over to the International Stabilization Force,” a US-led colonial army), as well as in the statements by Netanyahu, who reaffirmed to Trump his determination to exterminate every last vestige of Palestinian freedom, with or without an agreement.
For the Palestinian people, the agreement means nothing more than moving from Israeli rule to Washington’s rule in exchange for uncertain promises of support for reconstruction and the distant and ambiguous possibility that one day, if the masters allow it, they may be able to establish their own state. Furthermore, it says nothing about prosecuting the perpetrators of genocide, disarming Israel, or any kind of guarantee for their lives. There is no reparation, no guarantees of non-repetition, no public apologies, and no sanctions against the aggressors. On the contrary, it perpetuates the fallacy of presenting the occupying power as the victim and subjects every step of the eventual withdrawal of the invading troops to the approval of the Zionist regime, which reserves the right to arbitrarily violate the terms without any consequences, as it has done with every signed or verbal commitment. This is anticipated in Trump’s 20 points when he invokes the agreement of January 19, which has been systematically violated by Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile Israel continues to level Gaza
In fact, the only usefulness of Trump’s proposal is to unmask those who were only waiting for some flimsy pretext to validate the massacre and get on good terms with the genocidal regime. Italy, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Arab or Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, and Turkey were quick to celebrate the return of Western rule over Palestine. Even Spain, which had surprisingly broken its pact of complicity with Tel Aviv, joined in embracing the project that perpetuates oppression. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA), headed by Mahmoud Abbas, affirmed its “willingness to engage positively and constructively with the United States,” despite the fact that the plan does not contemplate a ban on the annexation of Palestinian territories, an end to the forced displacement of Palestinians, or the complete withdrawal of Israel—to which the PNA says it is committed—and despite the fact that the document reflects Netanyahu’s explicit position of preventing Palestinian self-government.
Now that the chorus of colonialism normalizers seems to be reinstalling itself, it is worth highlighting the dissenting voice of former British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose consistency stands out in contrast to neoliberal pseudo-Labourites such as current Prime Minister Keir Starmer or the aforementioned Blair. Regarding the latter, Corbyn recalled that Blair’s catastrophic decision to invade Iraq cost thousands and thousands of lives, which is why he should not be anywhere near the Middle East, let alone Gaza. He also reaffirms a basic fact of law and common sense: it is not up to Blair, Trump, or Netanyahu to decide the future of Gaza, but rather the Palestinian people.
Source: La Jornada, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English