Trump’s Gaza Impasse |
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From the moment U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 20-point peace plan for Gaza last September, it was apparent that disarming Hamas would be among the biggest obstacles to moving the process forward. Months into the fragile cease-fire, Trump’s peace plan has stalled amid an impasse over disarmament. Gaza now appears in danger of remaining in an indefinite limbo in which Hamas controls a portion of the territory while Israel occupies the rest.
With its attention largely focused on Iran at present, the Trump administration has yet to provide a clear strategy for how it hopes to move past this quagmire in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on April 27 that the “entire agreement relies upon them [Hamas] disarming and demilitarizing” and that until that happens, “all of it is in question.” Though Rubio also said there were “promising signs” that an agreement to demilitarize Hamas was closer, the reality on the ground and developments in the days since paint a starkly different picture.
From the moment U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 20-point peace plan for Gaza last September, it was apparent that disarming Hamas would be among the biggest obstacles to moving the process forward. Months into the fragile cease-fire, Trump’s peace plan has stalled amid an impasse over disarmament. Gaza now appears in danger of remaining in an indefinite limbo in which Hamas controls a portion of the territory while Israel occupies the rest.
With its attention largely focused on Iran at present, the Trump administration has yet to provide a clear strategy for how it hopes to move past this quagmire in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on April 27 that the “entire agreement relies upon them [Hamas] disarming and demilitarizing” and that until that happens, “all of it is in question.” Though Rubio also said there were “promising signs” that an agreement to demilitarize Hamas was closer, the reality on the ground and developments in the days since paint a starkly different picture.
The Palestinian militant group still refuses to lay down its weapons. Hamas rejected a proposal from the U.S.-led Board of Peace to begin gradually disarming by April 11. During more recent negotiations, Hamas reportedly said it would not disarm until phase one of the plan was complete and Israel fully withdrew from the strip. But Israel, which has expanded its control of Gaza to nearly two-thirds of the territory, has said it will not pull its troops from the strip until Hamas disarms.
“Despite notable achievements so far since the cease-fire was signed, we are seeing one step forward, two steps backward. Hamas, as expected, is playing for time, and since everything is contingent on its disarmament, not much can move forward otherwise,” said Shira Efron, the distinguished chair for Israel policy at RAND, a security think tank.
“Neither side—Israel, Hamas, even the Palestinian Authority—really wants this to succeed. But they don’t want........