Is Trump's personal attention enough to stop the war in Gaza?

The Guardian published an op-ed by Kenneth Roth, the former director of Human Rights Watch and a visiting professor at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs, discussing the role of U.S. President Donald Trump in stopping the war in Gaza.

Trump stated that his role in halting the war in Gaza was driven by personal interests, questioning whether this motivation was sufficient to accomplish the task, adding that we can only express joy that the Israeli genocide in Gaza has stopped, at least for now.

He continued, "The killing has ceased, food has been allowed in to alleviate the famine, and forcibly displaced Palestinians are returning to their cities, if not to their homes, most of which Israel has crushed. Nevertheless, what tempers the joy of celebrations is the painful reality that the conditions for lasting peace, like what is happening in the Middle East, are indefinitely postponed, if they exist at all."

Roth explained that "this may be cause for concern, yet Trump deserves praise for ending U.S. government funding and arming of genocide, and for twisting Benjamin Netanyahu's arm to accept his 20-point plan for Gaza."

However, as Roth states, this did not happen in a vacuum; had Joe Biden attempted to implement the same plan, he would undoubtedly have faced fierce criticism from the Republican Party for not giving Netanyahu everything he wanted. Trump, on the other hand, owns the Republican Party today, and as was the case when Richard Nixon went to China, there was no one to the right of Trump to challenge him.

Roth added that Trump's shift from adopting the extreme Israeli right's goal of ethnic cleansing in Gaza to accepting the right of Palestinian civilians to remain may have been driven by a noticeable shift in American attitudes toward Israel.

Young evangelical Christians, who are core "MAGA" voters, felt disgusted by the genocide committed by Israel, which aimed to incite forced displacement that Trump supported with his vision of a "Riviera" in Gaza.

Roth pointed out that Trump has always been primarily concerned with himself; he was able to see the political costs of the largely unconditional green light he gave to Netanyahu and his pursuit of an endless war.

This was something Netanyahu needed to maintain his ruling coalition and avoid pending corruption charges and political accountability for the intelligence failures that Hamas ruthlessly exploited on October 7, 2023.

The writer added that "the straw that broke the camel's back" came from Netanyahu's belief that, having escaped punishment for genocide, he would have no difficulty attacking and attempting to kill Hamas negotiators in Qatar.

This angered Gulf leaders, whose mix of wealth and autocracy is a strength for Trump, prompting the U.S. president to hold Netanyahu accountable for his destructive actions and force him to accept a 20-point plan to stop the war.

This required Netanyahu to abandon his dream of a Gaza free of Palestinians, followed undoubtedly by a West Bank free of Palestinians.

He noted that this implies a potential return for UNRWA, which Netanyahu tried to destroy because he felt it helped remind Palestinian refugees that they are indeed refugees aspiring to return to their homes in Israel or even the occupied West Bank.

In fact, the plan grants Palestinians from Gaza the right to leave and "return," a right not shared by their exiled citizens in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Roth stated that the unspoken issues regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be as dangerous as what is announced; at the time Trump declared, "The war is over," Netanyahu had not even committed to refraining from resuming the war in Gaza if Hamas did not sufficiently disarm.

While Hamas's military strength is not suitable for leading Gaza, this does not justify a renewed genocide, which is how Netanyahu fought.

Roth also criticized Trump, who sent a contradictory message; alongside his unjustified pursuit of a pardon for the corruption charges against Netanyahu during his speech in the Knesset on Monday, he imposed blatant sanctions on International Criminal Court officials for accusing Netanyahu and his former defense minister of committing a war crime by starving and depriving Palestinian civilians.

Moreover, the optimal way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the writer, is to establish two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living peacefully side by side, but Netanyahu has devoted his entire political career to preventing this possibility.

This was clearly evident on Monday when Ayman Odeh, a prominent Arab-Israeli member of the Knesset, was forcibly removed from the hall during Trump's speech for holding a paper that read, "Recognize Palestine!"

Despite the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu's government refused to release Marwan