[Salon] Phase 1 ... and Then?



FM: John Whitbeck

The announced agreement on Phase 1 of the "Trump peace plan", promising a 2000-for-20 hostage swap, at least a temporary opening of the gates of Gaza to a flood of life-sustaining aid and at least a temporary pause in Israel's genocidal assault against the people of Gaza is clearly good news.

It is worth recalling in this regard that Hamas had made clear its willingness to execute such a hostage swap, the sole reason for taking hostages, ever since October 2023, while Israel has until now prioritized other objectives. 

However, as I wrote in my message of October 4, retransmitted below, once that has occurred, nothing is assured, and Finance Minister Smotrich and other voices in Israel are already expressing their intention to resume Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide project once all the hostages held in Gaza have been released.

It would be logically, legally and morally incoherent for any of the 158 states which have recognized the State of Palestine or any other state with any respect for international law to support the elements of the "Trump peace plan" calling for (i) stripping an occupied people of the ability to offer armed resistance to an illegal occupation, as is their absolute right under international law, (ii) the permanent Israeli military occupation of a significant portion of Gaza's territory and (iii) entrusting the ultimate governing authority in Gaza to a "Board of Peace" comprising Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, Tony Blair and similar moral monsters.

The implementation of these elements would not only constitute flagrant violations of international law but also constitute an unconscionable reward for genocide, which, unfortunately, does not make the implementation of some or all of them inconceivable.

The focus of the "international community" after the hostage swap is completed should not be on imagining some vague, rhetorical, future "pathway" to a "two-state solution" but, rather, on taking all actions necessary for as long as it takes to transform the current two-state legality under international law into a two-state reality on the ground by ending the illegal occupation of the State of Palestine.

It should go without saying, but is nevertheless worth saying, that there will be no need for resistance to occupation if and when there is no longer an occupation.



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