Australian National University Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies senior lecturer Dr Anas Iqtait told The Front Page the most important element of the plan is that a majority of Arab and Muslim-majority countries have signed off on it.
“Which means that for Hamas now, it is in a very difficult position if it refuses the plan or suggests major revisions to the plan’s pillars as they stand at the moment,” he said.
Iqtait said the plan itself equates the Palestinian polity in Gaza with Hamas, and separates Gaza from its wider Palestinian context.
“Why is Hamas to decide the political future of the Gaza Strip alone?
“These are things that the plan leaves ambiguous and puts the ball in Hamas’ field, with regards not only to the day-to-day events, or technical aspects that are related to the war, but then also to the future of Palestinians at large in the Gaza Strip, which will definitely have ramifications to the future of Palestinians elsewhere as well,” he said.
The plan would establish two levels of interim governance: an international body and a Palestinian committee headed by Trump, along with other heads of state and international officials, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“Imposing a governance mechanism that is going to be chaired by the President of the United States on Palestinians, even if it has some Palestinian voices, in my opinion, will certainly prove to be unproductive, inefficient, and will backfire.
“My understanding is that the Arab leaders and heads of state who met with Trump in New York have conveyed these points to the Palestinian Authority, and that has been quick to agree to the plan as a blueprint, or at least as a general blueprint to end the war in Gaza.
“It really reminds me of rounds of negotiations between Arab leaders and Israel before the Madrid Peace Process in 1991. This is basically where Israel used to refuse to represent or meet with Palestinians to negotiate with them in their capacity as Palestinians and would prefer to meet with the Jordanian leadership or other Arab leaders.
“In the early 1990s, this resulted in the Oslo Accords, and from the Palestinians’ perspective, there is consensus amongst Palestinian academics, analysts, and observers that the Oslo Accords have been a failure and were heavily criticised at the time.
“So there is a lot of, in my opinion, déjà vu,” he said.
Tony Blair is no stranger to brokering peace in the region, stepping down as envoy for the Middle East Quartet in 2015 after eight years. The Quartet was created after the 1991 Madrid Conference in an attempt to mediate in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
At the time of his resignation from the role, the Financial Times reported that Blair had weak relations with senior Palestinian Authority figures, and his vast array of business interests were said to have “provoked unease in Washington and Brussels”.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- The key elements of the plan
- Issues around internationally imposed governance
- Historic parallels with the 1991 Madrid Conference
- Whether the idea of a “Riviera of the Middle East” will happen.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
