Gaza Peace Plan: There is hope in the air

Col Alok Mathur (retd)

The announcement of Gaza Peace plan is like a gentle shower on the Gaza region which was reeling under a devastating inferno since the last two years, consequent to HAMAS terrorists launching the dastardly Operation Al Aqsa on innocent residents of an Israeli Kibbutz, who were celebrating the festival of Yom Kippur near THE western border of Israel.

The D-day for Operation Al Aqsa was 7 October 2023. At first light, 3000 rockets were launched by Qassam brigades of HAMAS, towards various bordering towns of western Israel from multiple hideouts located in the Gaza strip. Many of these rockets managed to breach the protection of the Israeli Iron Dome Air defence umbrella. Simultaneously, about 1500 HAMAS terrorists in groups of 40-50 breached the fortified border fencing at multiple points. In North Palestine HAMAS teams entered through tunnels and by physically demolishing fencing by Dozers/JCBs. They used Bikes/SUVs, Motorised Para hang Gliders, speed boats etc. to move in. The objective was to assault a desert festival musical event.

Israel confirmed at least 1200 killed and about 251 hostages taken by HAMAS to Gaza during the operation. After the initial shock, an emergency war council meeting of the Israeli government was held in the late evening of 7 October. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu ordered mobilisation and retaliatory action by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). War planes bombarded vital targets of HAMAS including headquarters, camps, anti-aircraft batteries, Rocket launch pads and tunnel networks connecting Sinai and Gaza strip in the south west corner of Israel hugging the Mediterranean Sea. In the initial stages itself, Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas confirmed 2000 casualties, 4000 wounded and mass destruction of buildings including residential complexes.

In the second phase, five Infantry Divisions of IDF and an armoured brigade were inducted in Gaza while, Israeli Air force (IAF) fighter jets and Artillery carried out selected destruction of HAMAS strongholds.

The retaliation of IDF has turned Gaza town and villages into near ruins and triggered mass migration to Southern Gaza and are lodged in camps near the Egyptian border. Till date, almost 69,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, are reported killed. 1.5 Lakhs have been wounded/crippled. Israel has also lost about 950 soldiers and 1050 Israeli citizens. About 14000 are reported severely wounded in HAMAS rocket attacks and IED blasts.

There have been temporary pauses in hostility but belligerence continues. IDF has occupied 75% of the Gaza Strip and destroyed HAMAS infrastructure. Israel has vowed to eliminate HAMAS forever. Mossad tracked top HAMAS leadership and assassinated them.

There had been an exchange of hostages in the ratio of 1 for 50 negotiated by Qatar. 148 Israeli hostages (including 8 dead bodies) out of 255 initially captured have been released in exchange of 1000 plus Palestinian prisoners. Moreover, Israeli troops rescued 8 hostages alive and 51 were recovered dead in 2024. There are still 48 in the captivity of Hamas. The fate of these hostages is unknown.

The Israeli Nation

Israel, homeland of THE Jews, is located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia. It is surrounded by Lebanon in North, Syria in Northeast, Jordan in the east and southeast and Great Egypt in the southwest and south. Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital but the de-facto centre of power is Tel Aviv. It is a multiparty republic with one legislative assembly (Knesset) having 120 members. The president is Issac Herzog and Prime minister is Benjamin Netanyahu, a war veteran. The population is 9 million. The total area is 21,643 sq kms. It consists of lengthy coastal plains, highlands in north and the central regions and the Negev desert in the south.

Israel, is the only Jewish nation in world, and has a history rolling back to the pre-biblical era. The region was part of the mighty Roman Empire and later, the Byzantine Empire. It came under Islamic caliphate in 700 ACE. The whole area was known as Palestine and remained under several Islamic dynasties. With time, the Jews migrated and Palestine became almost completely Muslim. Finally, it was part of the great Ottoman Empire. After World War 1 it was placed under British mandate by the League of Nations.

Even before the mandate, a large number of Jews with a desire for a separate Jewish homeland migrated to Palestine, their holy land.  Later, there was a heavy migration of persecuted Jews from all over the world towards Palestine due to the World War II holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. This immigration flared up into clashes with local Arabs.

The United Nations planned to partition Palestine into two separate Jewish and Arab states on 29 November 1947, but the Arabs rejected the plan.  Israel achieved statehood on May 14, 1948. A new nation was born but with hostile Arab neighbours.

The Arab-Israeli Wars

The first war on Israel by the Arabs was launched on 24 May 1948. The joint Armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and local Palestine volunteers invaded Israel. The Israelis saved Jerusalem and defeated the Arab legions.

The second war was launched by Israel on Egypt as it had signed a treaty with Czechoslovaks for Soviet Arms and nationalised Suez Canal in July 1956. It was called the Sinai Campaign. Israel registered a great victory in the war with its troops reaching the Suez Canal and threatening Cairo. IDF also captured the West Bank and Golan heights.

Israel fought another war with Egypt and others in 1967 as the Egyptian president Abdul Naseer, having acquired massive military aid from Soviets, wanted to teach a lesson to the Jews. Arabs were defeated again in the six days war.

The Yom Kippur War was launched on 6 October, 1973 the holiest day of Jewish calendar, by the joint forces of Syria and Egypt to win back the territories lost in the last war. After an initial setback, Israel fought back and regained all lost territories by 25 October 1973.

Later, to ensure tranquillity, the Camp David accord, a bilateral peace treaty was signed on 17 September 1978 between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, coordinated by President Jimmy Carter at White house, Washington.

Devastated Gaza

The Gaza Strip

The Gaza strip is 363 kms long. It is located on the sout-western corner of Israel linking with Egypt to the southern edge and Mediterranean Sea coast to the west. It has a population of 10 lakhs.

An organisation named Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was created to offer resistance to what was perceived to be an illegal invasion and occupation by the Jews. PLO carried out negotiations as well as militant/terrorist activities. A dastardly terrorist attack was carried out by a PLO supported Black September group in 1972 Munich Olympics killing members of the Israeli athletics team. This was followed by the 1974 school bus hijack which led to the killing of 26 Israeli students. Next came the coastal road massacre of 37 students by Al Fatah.

After intensive negotiations, the Gaza strip was handed over to the PLO in 1993/94 with permission of self-rule as part of a peace agreement under UN auspices. Similarly, in the West bank, (5900 sq km area), partial self-rule was initiated with the aim of ushering lasting peace.

Yasser Arafat was the founder chairman of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) from 1969 to 2004. Ramallah was declared as capital of Palestine. A Palestine legislative council was formed. Mahmoud Abbas is the current chairman and president of Palestine. PLO was responsible for several attacks on American and Israeli citizens.

In 2005, the then prime minister of Israel, Aeriol Sharon, unilaterally decided to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The Jewish settlers were forced to leave their homes in spite of resistance, and evacuated to the mainland. Gradually, all elements of IDF also were withdrawn. This was hailed as a goodwill step towards providing autonomy to Palestinians. The whole world welcomed it including the Arab fraternity.

HAMAS: A Fundamentalist Organisation

The present crisis is linked to HAMAS, an acronym for “Harakat al Mukwana al Islamiya.” Raised in 1987, it is a Palestinian Sunni Islamic fundamentalist organization and has a militant wing comprising al-Qassam brigades. HAMAS won the legislative election of the PLO in 2006 and took over control of the Gaza strip after departure of the IDF. This group has taken over the role of continuing the struggle.

Israel has launched a number of operations to neutralise this menace since 2008. Operation Cast Lead was launched in 2008, as HAMAS was shelling continuously and attacking with missiles on towns of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Yavne and Beersheba. On 27 December 2008, Israeli Air Force F-15 Jets attacked a graduation ceremony of Qassam brigade fighters and killed 150 terrorists in Arafat city and subsequently destroyed command posts, missile sites and training camps of HAMAS. Three infantry brigades entered the Gaza strip along with two armoured brigades and cleared all booby traps and machine gun nests. HAMAS cadres were paralysed. Human bombs were shot dead. The operation was called off after 22 days on achieving the objective of destroying HAMAS military capabilities and command structure. Israel suffered 10 casualties and HAMAS counted 1400 cadres dead, 4000 houses destroyed and 48 Government offices burnt.

Operation Pillar of Défense was initiated in 2012, to eliminate Ahmed Jabari, Chief of Staff of HAMAS. He was the mastermind of overseas relations, fundraising and weapon procurement for the militant wing. On November 14, 2012, he was blown to pieces in Gaza city as his silver KIA SUV was hit by two missiles fired from an armed drone. The next day Israeli jets bombarded long range Fajar missile sites. HAMAS also retaliated with 1500 rockets but most of them were neutralised by the iron dome umbrella of Israel. 120 Palestinians were killed. Headquarters and Training camps were destroyed. The operation was terminated on 22 November 2012.

Another operation named’ Protective edge’ was launched in 2014 again against HAMAS as three young boys were kidnapped and killed by terrorists in the west bank.

A new tunnel war was then initiated by HAMAS. Terrorist teams used tunnels to carry out killings in Israeli Kibbutz and vanish back. The Israeli troops entered Gaza once again and destroyed 32 tunnels. Hand to hand fighting took place. The IDF suffered 66 killed and 1600 Palestinians including 700 terrorists were also killed. Iron dome missile shield intercepted 773 Qassam and M-75 hostile missiles and saved civilian population. The operation Preventive Edge was terminated in September 2014.

The next big clash between IDF and HAMAS was in May 2021 when violence in East Jerusalem was triggered on the 10th day of Ramadan, as Israeli security forces prevented Palestinian Arab worshippers from moving towards Israeli controlled Al Aqsa Mosque. 300 Palestinians and some Israeli troops were injured in the clash. On 11 May 2021, HAMAS opened up with BM 21 GRAD batteries and Rockets in Israeli towns of Ramon, Beer Sheba, Ashdod and Tel Aviv killing about 10 Israeli citizens including one Indian Nurse. IDF retaliated and HAMAS strongholds were destroyed by war planes and ground troops. The operation lasted 10 days and 100 HAMAS terrorists were killed and 600 Palestinians were injured.

The never-ending story of Gaza continues even after bloody rounds of 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now 2023. Israel has now decided to go full blast after HAMAS. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu who took over on 29 December 2022, has vowed in his address to the nation that HAMAS had started the War and we (Israel) will finish it on our terms. Israel launched a full blooded offensive to eliminate the menace forever. 1500 HAMAS cadres have been located and killed so far. Others have vanished in rat holes.  84 Countries including USA and India have supported Israel for taking action against HAMAS even as 14 Muslim countries including Iran and Pakistan have shown support to HAMAS and three nations have been neutral i.e. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Israel had vowed to eliminate HAMAS once and for all, but now, the situation has reached a stalemate. Hostages still could not be traced. The IDF is also now tired of the prolonged war.

Evolution of the Peace Plan

On 28 September 2025, President Trump along with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Quantico, Virginia unveiled a peace proposal whereby Israel agreed to end the conflict in Gaza. Trump warned HAMAS to accept the proposal for peace or face the wrath of the IDF again. He urged all Arabian countries to support his peace plan and advise HAMAS to agree to its terms and conditions. He gave a warning period of one week to HAMAS top hierarchy.

On 8 October, after hectic meetings of warring groups, Israel and HAMAS finally agreed for the first stage of exchange of hostages and signed the Gaza Peace Plan bringing relief to the entire world. Israel has thanked India for suggesting the “dialogue and diplomacy solution.”

Gaza peace plan is now termed as “The Sharm Document.” The proposal has been drafted, finalised and signed by three parties. Ron Dermer (Israel), Khalil Al Hayya (HAMAS ) and countersigned by the US team (Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner). The major proposals in the Gaza Plan are as listed .

1. Gaza to be de-radicalized and declared as Terror Free Zone
2. All enclaves of the Gaza strip to be redeveloped for the benefit of Gaza citizens.
3. If Hamas agrees, War ends immediately, IDF withdraws, all military operation will be suspended.
4. Within 72 hours of Israel accepting the deal, all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, to be returned.
5. Hamas members who give up Arms to be given amnesty. Those who wish to leave be given safe passage.
6. Gaza to be governed under the temporary transitional governance of an apolitical Palestinian committee.
7. Economic Development Plan to rebuild Gaza to be created earliest.
8. No one will be forced to leave Gaza. Gazans are free to return
9. Hamas will have no role in governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly.
10. All military terror infrastructure, tunnels will be destroyed and not allowed to be rebuilt
11. US and Arab countries will work with International neutral bodies to develop and deploy International Stabilisation Force (ISF) at Gaza.
12. ISF will train, and provide support to Palestinian Police force in Gaza.
13. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.
14. Israel Defence Forces will hand over Gaza territory to the ISF.
15. Hamas will deposit all arms and ammunition.
16. International humanitarian relief material will be permitted.
17. Medical camps by red crescent/red cross will be established.
18. The interim governing council will be advised by Ex British PM Tony Blair.
19. Principle of Mutual faith and Good will prevail
20. No violations of ceasefire will be acceptable.

Implementation of the Peace Plan

A diplomatic summit was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on October 13, 2025, involving 30 countries to discuss next steps in Gaza’s reconstruction, governance, and the peace path. The summit produced a joint “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity,” signed by some regional players (including Egypt, U.S., Qatar, Turkey) though Israel and Hamas were not directly represented there.

The Comprehensive Peace Plan by Trump will provide a viable path to long term sustainable peace, security and development of both the Palestinians and the Israeli people and will also bring peace and tranquillity in West Asia.

PM Narendra Modi has welcomed the initiative taken by US President Donald Trump to end the Gaza conflict. He tweeted on X on 1 October 2025, in Arabic, Hebrew and English that, “we hope that concerned will come together to support President Trump’s plan to end the old conflict and secure peace in holy land.”

Trump address to the Israeli Knesset

The Israel and Hamas deal went into effect around October 10. Hamas has released the last 20 living Israeli hostages that it is holding. Israel in turn freed 1900 to 2000 Palestinian prisoners/detainees on 13 October

This was followed by an address to the Israeli Knesset by President Donald trump. Trump declared that the war in Gaza is over and termed the peace plan as a, “Historic dawn of a new Middle East.”

He said that Israel has, “won all that can be won by force of arms,” and urged a shift from military victory to peace, reconstruction, and diplomacy. Trump positioned his administration’s mediation in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire as central to this transition. He also extended a message to Iran, offering that “the hand of friendship and cooperation is always open.”

The address met with a standing ovation in the Knesset. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders publicly praised Trump, with Netanyahu even nominating him for the Israel Prize (a high national honor) and endorsing him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Way Ahead

The deal does not yet settle how HAMAS would be disarmed or what role (if any) it will play in a future Gaza governance structure. How Gaza will be governed is still not very clear. Too many forces are looking for a piece of the cake. With Israel withdrawing troops, HAMAS may again assert security control, thus aggravating the risk of internal clashes, fragmentations, or a power vacuum. Past ceasefires have broken down.  In Gaza, infrastructure is ruined, large portions of the population are displaced, and immediate humanitarian aid is critical.

The success now depends heavily on whether both sides stick to their obligations and whether the third-party guarantors can enforce or monitor compliance. Many have questioned Trump’s sweeping claims of ending the war as premature, arguing that implementation remains fragile.

The Gaza Peace Plan document, a brain child of President Trump, has been possible with a marathon diplomatic visit, close door meetings, negotiations and compromises among the USA, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and UAE. The Israeli PM was initially reluctant but was brought on board by POTUS. HAMAS had limited choice. Israeli forces have already gone back to the yellow line and reverse migration from south to north Gaza has already begun. There is hope in the air.