Who Can Save Gaza?

posted on: Jan 21, 2026

By: Ghassan Rubeiz / Arab America Contributing Writer

Trump is too distracted by unthinkable politics to save Gaza. Despite a complicated overseas agenda-including his aggressive campaign to acquire Greenland, tame Iran, and coerce Venezuela- President Trump announced phase two of his Gaza Peace Plan while facing an equally charged domestic agenda.\

Three months of planning have failed to produce an acceptable ceasefire: Israel has killed an estimated 450 Palestinians since the truce began, while Hamas refuses to surrender its arms.

Trump’s 20-point plan outlines immediate ceasefire, hostage/prisoner exchanges, demilitarization, reconstruction, and future Palestinian technocratic governance, with phased Israeli withdrawal. Organizationally, it creates multiple layers: a Board of Peace chaired by Trump with international leaders including Tony Blair and possibly El-Sisi, Erdogan, and Putin; a Palestinian Technocratic Committee headed by PA-connected civil engineer Ali Shaath; a Gaza Executive Board; and an International Oversight Committee. The plan also calls for Egyptian-trained Palestinian police.

The plan exists only on paper, remains incomplete, leaves devastated Gazans dependent, and Gaza is divided and occupied. It’s too complex to implement.

Israel doesn’t believe the plan addresses its security concerns and is nervous about Turkey’s and Qatar’s roles. Hamas refuses to demilitarize while Israel declines to confirm withdrawal or timelines. Palestinians are discouraged by their exclusion from major decisions about their future.

Despite this organizational and diplomatic chaos, Palestinians can still change their future’s direction, but they must participate in what is offered “on the table”. Why? They live in miserable conditions, Hamas has been severely weakened, Arab states are constrained by the US administration, and Israel enjoys the position of an undeclared winner with the privilege of gaining additional Palestinian land. So far, the international community follows Trump’s lead.

The overwhelming dominance of Trump and Netanyahu won’t intimidate Palestinians forever. Trump may soon be exhausted by his irrational politics. And Israel, despite military success, has suffered severe setbacks in global moral standing.

Palestinians possess key political assets-demography, inalienable human rights, and resilience-to force Israel to face reality. Ultimately, Israel must release its hold over seven million Palestinians—half the population it controls.

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank must unite to identify visionary leadership. They are entitled to an election. Fourteen million Palestinians from historic Palestine and the diaspora deserve a single, effective leader with a new vision. Palestinian Americans are well-positioned to mobilize for the birth of a new “Mandela” in their global political sphere. Perhaps Jewish and Arab Americans would work together to make this happen.

Palestinians should uniformly abandon the two-state solution and demand coexistence with Jewish neighbors between the River and the Sea. A binational, rights-based state would save both peoples from self-destructive ideology and hyper-nationalism. The two-state solution is no longer feasible—not only for insufficient space, but for ideological and sociological reasons. In a two-state scenario, both sides would compete militarily, politically, and culturally to undermine one another. Regional pressures, lack of awareness of the “other,” and absence of direct human contact drive them toward zero-sum politics. Only through living together—sharing responsibility for security, governance, education, and freedom of religion while embracing an ecumenical Abrahamic tradition—can they become a democratic exemplar for the region.

Success might encourage Jordan and Lebanon to join a confederation of four states, giving the Palestinian refugee issue the geographical, economic, and political space needed for resolution.

To survive, Israel needs Palestinians to be free; to thrive, Palestinians need Israelis to be just. Perhaps the Middle East can find democracy through regional cooperation rather than competition for wealth and military power.

Ghassan Rubeiz is the former Middle East Secretary of the World Council of Churches. Earlier, he taught psychology and social work in his country of birth, Lebanon, and later in the United States, where he currently lives. He has contributed to political commentary for the past twenty years and has delivered occasional public talks on peace, justice, and interfaith topics. You can reach him at rubeizg@gmail.com

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.

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