Publication
Omar Shaban Ismail · The Cairo Review · 2025
Contributing to a multi-author Cairo Review forum, Omar Shaban argues that while the Trump 20-point plan is imperfect, most Gazans support it because it promises to end the war. He contends that Hamas cannot afford to reject it given the strategic trap it sets, and that regional actors should push to quickly negotiate its details and timeline while preserving international support for ending the conflict.
Contributing to a multi-author Cairo Review forum, Omar Shaban argues that while the Trump 20-point plan is imperfect, most Gazans support it because it…
The Cairo Review of Global Affairs asked its contributors for their brief thoughts on the viability of Trump's most recent peace venture. The following is Omar Shaban's contribution.
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A quick review of social media indicates that a majority of Gazans, who have for two years suffered Israel's onslaught, now support the Trump plan for many reasons, but primarily because it promises to end the horrible war. They realize that Trump's plan may not be the best; however, they also understand that negotiations and agreements are the result of the balance of power between negotiating parties, and that there is a difference between what is most desirable to achieve and what is most possible to achieve.
The current 20-point Trump plan, which came on the heels of the United Nations General Assembly, actually walks back from his initial Gaza Riviera initiative, which lacked any political dimensions, would have ignored the rights of the Palestinian residents and "voluntarily" displaced them. Most disturbingly, it realized Israeli right-wing aims of resolving the conflict through displacement, and then permanent Jewish settlement, and turning the Strip into an empty plot of land intended for investment.
Not surprisingly, the Riviera Gaza plan was praised by the Israeli right-wing, especially Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who demanded that it be the Israeli government's action plan. But the Gaza Riviera plan was strongly opposed by many around the world, who even committed — through an unprecedented demonstration of international will at the United Nations — to the two-state solution by recognizing Palestinian statehood.
From a Palestinian perspective, the 20-point plan has the potential to stabilize and strengthen their presence on their own land. For their part, Hamas realizes that the plan is supported by key Arab and Muslim countries, namely Qatar and Turkey, which have hosted its leadership over the years. Hamas cannot reject the plan. Although it stated it did not receive an official document of the plan, it pledged to study it in good faith. An affirmative response from Hamas was to be expected.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed Trump's plan as it breaches Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's red line not to work with the PA to govern Gaza. Both Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions are aware of the magnitude of the people's tragedy in Gaza, and at the same time, they understand the strategic trap that Trump set for them: that their rejection of the plan would make the Palestinian people lose their most important achievement in this war, which is gaining official and popular international sympathy and exposing Israel as a colonial, settler-occupation entity led by a group of extremists. Therefore, they are required to think rationally about the balance of power and not be driven solely by the emotions of national aspirations, even if these are legitimate and just.
Consequently, Hamas will be accepting the general principles called for by the plan: namely, halting the war, arranging Gaza's reconstruction and keeping its residents there, and establishing stability in the region, which does not conflict with Palestinian interests. This should be accompanied by a regional push to quickly negotiate the plan's details, its timeline, and practical next steps, while maintaining international support for ending the war.
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Context: U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a twenty-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza, calling for the release of all remaining hostages, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, and an interim governance plan involving Palestinian and international actors with no Hamas presence. The plan proposes a reformed Palestinian Authority as Gaza's future government, the replacement of Israeli military presence with Arab security forces, and a "credible pathway to Palestinian statehood." Hamas issued its first official response indicating readiness to release all Israeli hostages provided "field conditions" are met, while omitting any commitment to disarmament. Arab states — Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, and Egypt — expressed general support for the plan.
Topic: Ceasefire & Peace Plans — Trump plan · ceasefire · political future — Text © The Cairo Review — archived here with attribution to the source. — Original source