Here is what needs to happen to put Palestinians and Israelis on the path to peace.
On Friday, Hamas sent its response to the “20-point Gaza peace plan” put forward by United States President Donald Trump. Importantly, the Palestinian group agreed to hand over the administration of Gaza to a group of technocrats and free all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The US president welcomed the response and told Israel to “immediately stop bombing”. Yet, in the 48 hours after Hamas submitted its response, Israeli attacks killed at least 94 Palestinians in Gaza.
While the Trump plan may bring a temporary respite for the Palestinians, it will not achieve peace. For this to happen, we also need a plan that makes demands of Israel and eliminates its genocidal drive.
So here is a 10-point plan for Israel:
1. Israeli politics and public sphere need to be deradicalised. Over the past 24 months, the Israeli political elite have been cheerleaders of genocide, publicly celebrating the erasure of Palestinian life in Gaza with complete impunity. Much of the Israeli public has also tagged along. The Israeli state will need to institute programmes that promote values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence within state institutions and within the education system to address this.
2. The Israeli army needs to be reformed. Be it the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians or the social media posts by Israeli soldiers from the battleground mocking the destruction of Palestinian homes – the dehumanisation of Palestinians is deeply embedded in the armed forces. Israeli authorities will need to engage in a concerted effort to formulate and implement a new military code of conduct rooted in the dictates of international humanitarian law.
3. Israeli political and military leaders must be tried at the International Criminal Court. Forensic experts, civil society organisations, human rights groups and activists have been collecting evidence of the nature of the Israeli military campaign. This evidence could be the basis of the legal proceedings.
4. Gaza must be opened up. This means there must be an end to the siege by land, air and sea that has been in place since 2007. The free movement of people and goods must be allowed.
5. International observers or a protective force must be deployed in Gaza to make sure there are no violations – either by the Israeli military or by Israeli extremists.
6. Taking the cue from the 2024 International Court of Justice ruling that settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, the Israeli authorities must stop and criminalise all settlement activities, including activism, lobbying and fundraising efforts geared towards expanding settlements or establishing new outposts.
7. The West Bank and Jerusalem must be demilitarised and deoccupied. This would entail the dismantling of Israeli military infrastructure, checkpoints, watchtowers and walls that have systematically fractured the land and worked to circumscribe the Palestinian right to a homeland.
8. While the US plan requires Israel to release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 detainees, thousands of Palestinians remain in custody without trial. There will need to be a swift end to the Israeli policy of administrative detention and a wider plan to release the remaining Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
9. Israel will have to enter into negotiations to address the Palestinians’ right of return. This will need to happen through direct discussions and negotiations with the Palestinians in Palestine and the diaspora as well as representatives of United Nations bodies and civil society groups who have worked closely with Palestinian refugees and are well-versed in the immediate socioeconomic needs of this historically marginalised community.
10. Over the years, Israel has ramped up its public diplomacy efforts to gain global support for its policies. In 2024, these efforts received an infusion of about $150m in public funds. This money has been used for pro-Israel social media campaigns, lobbying efforts, fellowships and trips to Israel for non-Israeli businesspeople, journalists, politicians and decision-makers. Such investments have paid dividends through the crackdown on Palestinian solidarity efforts, especially in the West, since the start of the genocide in Gaza. Israel must, therefore, allow an international panel of experts to investigate the workings of its public diplomacy efforts and whether such efforts violate the sovereignty as well as the freedom of expression laws of other nations.
Of course, it is unlikely that the Israeli government would willingly pursue any of these 10 points. But global public opinion is changing dramatically. The Israeli narrative is no longer dominant despite the best efforts of the Israeli government and its allies. A growing number of people around the world are recognising that the Palestinian issue goes well beyond the fate of the Palestinian people.
Palestine is deeply intertwined with the issues and challenges that shape life and politics across the Middle East and beyond. And it is only when we address these wider issues and rightfully place the burden of responsibility on the State of Israel, can we hope for lasting peace.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect media’s editorial stance.
