ISRAEL and the听Palestinian听movement Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on January 15, bringing a pause to Israel鈥檚 ruthless 15-month onslaught on the enclave that killed more than 48,000 Palestinians. The agreement came ino force on January 19. On January 20, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president. On January 7, the president-elect Donald Trump at a press conference repeated his threat that 鈥榓ll hell will break out in the Middle East if Hamas does not agree to release hostages it has held in Gaza by the time I return to the White House.鈥�
The agreement was originally put forth for discussion on May 27, 2024 during Joe Biden鈥檚 presidency but the parties signed the agreement eight months after, before Trump鈥檚 presidential inauguration. The deal is a three-phased agreement on the exchange of hostages and prisoners and restoring a sustainable calm which could achieve a permanent ceasefire.
The first phase of the agreement in a six weeks鈥� time frame from January 19 and has the provision for the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas. In the second phase of the agreement, Hamas would release all remaining alive male Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, and Israel will pull all its soldiers out of Gaza and the temporary ceasefire will become permanent. Phase three of the agreement includes the reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Former US president Biden in his announcement on the deal on January 15 said that it was the exact framework of the deal that he proposed in May 2024. Who torpedoed the deal? The signing of the deal in May 2024 could have saved thousands of innocent lives and property. Why did Israel not sign the deal in May 2024 if freeing hostages was its priority? Why was Netanyahu defiant of Biden? Did Israel want more destruction and loss of lives? Did Trump assure Netanyahu of a 鈥榖etter deal鈥� with 鈥楪aza takeover plan鈥� on his return to the White House?
Trump鈥檚 intention to take over Gaza pushes the second and third phases of the agreement into jeopardy and eliminates any scope of sustainable calm in the Gaza Strip and peace for the Palestinians. Israel, which committed 266 violations since the deal became effective on January 19, is likely to resort to any pretext to snub the remaining provisions of the ceasefire deal, especially Israeli withdrawal and the rebuilding of Gaza.
Trump鈥檚 declaration of taking over Gaza utterly shocked the world, including US allies in the Middle East and Europe. It became the talk of the world. No one supported the idea. But Trump did not take his proposal off the table and he is unlikely to do so. His relocation plan ceases Palestinians right to return to their homeland and he does not mind even his action to dislodge Palestinians would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
The firebrand statement of taking over Gaza and relocating more than two million Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt is unlikely to be Trump鈥檚 personal wish list. Is he going by the book, a product of Heritage Foundation鈥檚 Project 2025? The book Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise for a conservative president is a 922-page document published in 2023. The book was drafted by more than 100 conservative organisations and 400 scholars and policy experts, many of whom were aligned with the ideology of American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. Many of the authors were Trump鈥檚 former advisers.
The book is a right-wing radical wish list for Trump鈥檚 second term. During the presidential campaign, he outrightly disowned the project for its radical biases, but he has nominated many of the book鈥檚 authors to key government positions and some of the recommendations were the sources of many of Trump鈥檚 executive orders promulgated in 30 days. During his first term, the White House adopted two-thirds of Heritage鈥檚 recommendations.
Israel dropped 80,000-ton bombs in Gaza, produced more than 50 million tonnes of debris. The relentless bombing campaign did not keep any structure intact. Thwarting the ceasefire deal which was initiated in May 2024 and the continuation of massive destruction of Gaza to turn the place into demolition site and the proposal to relocate Gazans may have had a premeditated relation.
Israel views Trump鈥檚 proposal to clear Gaza of Palestinians as an opportunity of the century to secure the dream territory to establish a greater Israel from the River Jordan to the coast of the Mediterranean.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump鈥檚 proposal to take over Gaza on Israel鈥檚 behalf as 鈥榬evolutionary, creative and visionary.鈥� He also said that he was 鈥榗ommitted to US president Trump鈥檚 plan for the creation of a different Gaza.鈥� Israel will connive and perpetrate every notoriety necessary to push Palestinians out of Gaza. In violation of the provisions of the ceasefire deal, Israel has been blocking the entry of aid convoys and construction equipment into Gaza.
Supporting Trump鈥檚 plan, Israel鈥檚 defence minister Israel Katz on February 17 announced the establishment of a special directorate for the 鈥榲oluntary departure[?]鈥� of Palestinians from Gaza. Trump doubled down his position on the Gaza takeover and said the Gaza Strip would be handed over to the United States by Israel, meaning Israeli troops were not leaving Gaza. It is amply indicative that the United States and Israel could be jointly working out an action plan ignoring the conscience of the world and build the Riviera in the Gaza Strip even if it is tantamount to ethnic cleansing, an act of gross violation of humanity and huge human right by the 鈥榩rofessor鈥� lecturing the world on human right.
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Mohammad Abdur Razzak ([email protected]), a retired commodore of the Bangladesh navy, is a security analyst.