The much-publicised 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been hailed in some quarters as bold and comprehensive. On the surface, it promises what people on both sides of the war long for: an end to the violence. But scratch beneath the surface, and the flaws are hard to miss.

The plan arrives at a moment of deep exhaustion. After nearly two years of relentless war, two-thirds of Israelis say they want the fighting to end. Palestinians, living amid the devastation of Gaza, yearn for nothing more than the halt of bombings that have killed more than 66,000 and wounded over 168,000 since October 2023. In that sense, even the prospect of quiet offers a glimmer of relief.

But beyond the promise of silence, the plan offers Palestinians little else. As Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu puts it,“Ending the genocide is tied to a very colonial approach in which Israel – the party that has carried out the genocide – and the US – who has funded it – are the ones who get to decide the future of the people against whom they're committing genocide.” The plan, she points out, provides“not a single guarantee” to Palestinians. Every safeguard is extended to Israel.

The asymmetry is glaring. Hamas is asked to surrender every weapon, free all remaining hostages, and accept complete disarmament-essentially leaving itself defenceless. In return, it is offered little more than the promise of amnesty. Worse still, Hamas was not even invited to the table to negotiate its own future. Instead, it is presented with an ultimatum: accept or be destroyed. Given Netanyahu's history and the lack of trust between the sides, Hamas fears, not without reason, that disarmament could be exploited as an opportunity for further attacks.

Meanwhile, the plan seems designed to appease Israel's most hardline ministers, who have openly declared that nothing short of Hamas's total elimination is acceptable. That political reality makes any meaningful compromise elusive. And while Hamas as an organisation may weaken or collapse, its ideology will endure-ensuring the seeds of future conflict remain firmly in the ground.

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