'Gaza has become a diplomatic, political and military black hole'

"A new and beautiful day is rising," Donald Trump declared on October 13, 2025. The US president was celebrating the start of a ceasefire in Gaza in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The ceasefire had secured the release of the last Israeli hostages taken on October 7 and the release of Palestinian prisoners. "And now the rebuilding begins," he continued. "Rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part. I think we've done a lot of the hardest part because the rest comes together." What unfolded in the months that followed only contradicted Trump's promises. It became a diplomatic, political and military black hole. Initiated by the US president, this black hole began with the adoption by the United Nations (UN), a month later, of a 20-point plan that completely swept away the body of resolutions adopted since the vote on the partition plan for Mandatory Palestine in November 1947, which had served as the foundation for the two-state solution. The blunt 20-point plan dismissed the past and the roots of the conflict by setting the goal of making Gaza a "terror-free zone" and one "redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza." The penultimate point referred, weakly and only conditionally, to the possibility of a Palestinian state, without any reference to the territory on which it could be established. Gaza's black hole then absorbed the institutions envisioned by Trump, who quickly lost interest in the matter, failing to turn the ceasefire into a political framework. This was especially true for the Board of Peace, officially launched in Washington on February 19 during an odd meeting that concluded with the disco soundtrack of the Republican candidate's campaign rallies. This meeting took place just days before the outbreak of the war led by the US and Israel against Iran, a conflict for which Trump still has not found a satisfactory resolution. Uncertain results No one at this point knows what purpose the board of directors for the narrow strip of land – nominally under the vague authority of the aforementioned Board – has served. It includes Trump's two personal envoys, a golf partner, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Two real estate developers tasked with all international affairs during the Republican's second term, whose results have been equally vague. You have 54.82% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.