Gaza: can we dream of optimism?

Gideon Levy of the Haaretz newspaper sees the latest 20-point ceasefire deal regarding Gaza as a time to have, at least, dreams of optimism; of hoping that the international world has finally taken on its responsibility to remove the “Israeli boot” from Palestinian necks. In the process, he perhaps gives too much credit to the assumption that US President Donald Trump was moved to pressure the Zionist state because of meetings in the White House with the families of Israeli hostages.

As is invariably the case with Trump, one should always first seek to follow the money. And, in this regard, the links to Trump and money lie with Qatar which has substantial and lucrative links with Trump, his family and businesses. There is even a Trump-branded luxury villa and golf course development in that oil-rich emirate. And, in July this year, Qatar presented Trump with the gift of the $400 million Boeing jumbo jet.

But, without the apparent knowledge of Trump and without his approval, the Israeli air force bombed ceasefire talks in Doha on September 9 in an attempt to kill negotiators from Hamas. The negotiators survived, but six people, including a Qatari official, died. Trump promptly announced that he was “unhappy” with Israeli premier Binjamin Netanyahu. According to several authoritative reports, he demanded that Netanyahu apologise to his Qatari counterpart.

It therefore seems most likely that the major factor that got Trump to strong-arm Netanyahu into the very vague 20-point deal was the bombing of a state Trump hailed as “a close Ally of the United States,….bravely taking risks with us to broker peace”. Whatever the motivation, the deal has, as one commentator noted, “as many holes as Swiss cheese”. And, as Levy comments, “at least in our dreams” we can cling to optimism.
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We must welcome international intervention says Gideon Levy,in Haaretz, Oct 12, 2025 and he writes:
Here’s more good news: There’s a chance that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about to undergo a dramatic internationalization. In a present whose future bodes ill, no news could be better. The Palestinians must be extricated from Israel’s eternal grasp, and only internationalization can achieve this.

After Israel’s recent actions in Gaza and in the West Bank, the fate of the Palestinians can no longer be left in its hands. The amazing news that U.S. President Donald Trump is to hold a summit in Egypt this week with Arab leaders, in Israel’s absence, to discuss Gaza’s future is a propitious sign. Maybe, just maybe, the Palestinians will finally be freed from the Israeli boot that is standing on their necks.

It began with the hostage release agreement. The determined and impressive protests in Israel calling for their release had no effect on the government or the person heading it, but it turned out to be a game-changer in the White House.

The demonstrations, the declarations and, most of all, his meetings with the families of the hostages miraculously touched the heart of the callous, narcissistic president and spurred him into action. Suddenly it became out that the right struggle campaign was the one being waged abroad.
This is an important lesson for the future: Before accusing all those people who protest, resist, struggle and voice subversive opinions abroad, it should be recognized that the only arena in which genuine change can still be effected is the international arena. Only out of it can signs of hope emerge.

There is no longer any possibility that Israelis will extricate themselves from the moral abyss into which they have slid, that they will wake up one day and say, let’s put an end to the apartheid, the occupation, the malicious domination of another people.

Anyone wishing to combat these phenomena must focus their efforts abroad. There, they will find not only a more attentive ear but also an opportunity for action. Once pubic opinion leads more governments to mobilize to join this struggle, hope will emerge.

The claim that this is foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Israel is, of course, idle nonsense. The fate of the Palestinian people is not an Israeli domestic matter, nor is it an Israeli matter at all.

The world has not only a right to come to its aid, it has a duty to do so, given that the Palestinians are defenseless against Israel’s occupation machine. Internationalization will introduce new forces into the equations of occupier and occupied, and it is the only thing that could upend them.

This is not mere talk. The “hostage deal,” in its obfuscating description, also includes the introduction of the world’s foot into the door of the conflict. If the unexpected happens, and the subsequent provisions of the agreement are implemented,, the world is inside.

The declarations of intent are also encouraging. The world will enter the Gaza Strip through the provision of aid, through reconstruction and even through military forces that replace the Israel Defense Forces.

Up to now, following each periodic IDF attack on Gaza, the Israeli military withdrew, leaving the enclave to its fate until the pleasure of the next invasion arrives, always more brutal than the preceding one. Now, another force is scheduled to enter the vacuum left in Gaza. Inshallah.

Let’s hope that the success of the pilot project in Gaza will bring foreign forces to the West Bank as well, to bring law and order to that land of total lawlessness, while replacing the foreign army now controlling that area, the IDF. Any other step will be sabotaged by Israel and the settlers.

Just imagine: European and American soldiers protecting shepherds in the West Bank from the violence of the settlers. Peace-force soldiers preventing the IDF from kidnapping people from their beds in the middle of the night, as is now common. Soldiers of the world dismantling hundreds of roadblocks across the West Bank, helping to build a just reality.

Does that sound like a hallucination? Definitely. But on the eve of the release of the Israeli hostages and the imprisoned and kidnapped Palestinians, it’s necessary to hallucinate. The joy over their release will be greater if we know that there will be a continuation and that the most terrible war will end with more than a “hostage deal.” The ball is in Trump’s court. We may go far on the wings of his big ego. At least in our dreams.