Towards a National Vision that Transforms the "Truce" into Ending the Occupation

The ceasefire agreement brokered by the Trump administration is no longer the end of the tragedy in Gaza, but the beginning of a more complex and sensitive phase, where the interests of regional and international powers intersect, while Israel attempts to establish new political and security facts that ensure its control without bearing the consequences of occupation. At the heart of this scene is the central question: what can the Palestinians do and according to what vision to curb Israeli colonial and aggressive plans, as well as attempt to penetrate the wall of international position, especially to protect the unity of national identity and prevent Tel Aviv from fragmenting it?

Israel: Consolidating Security Dominance and Institutionalizing Division

The Israeli war government deals with the ceasefire as an opportunity to consolidate what it failed to achieve militarily by imposing the equation of "calm in exchange for Israel's security," as it seeks to transform Gaza into an entity isolated from national identity, a hostage to security dominance, and subject to its agenda for relief, shelter, reconstruction, and national destiny. In contrast, it continues to marginalize the Palestinian Authority to a minor administrative role in the West Bank, deepening the geographical and political division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israel's declared and actual goal is to impose permanent security guardianship under an international or regional cover, while continuing settlement and annexation policies, thereby ensuring the burial of the idea of an independent Palestinian state and the right of return according to Resolution 194 and the Arab Peace Initiative.

While Hamas is accepting to exit governance, it seeks to prevent the cancellation of its role, and it is aware of the limits of this after the war. It is prepared to accept arrangements that allow its withdrawal from public governance in exchange for retaining an indirect role in managing the Strip. It may seek to maintain its weapon as a symbol of dignity and national status. This approach is unsustainable without a comprehensive national agreement that redefines the security and political function of arms. Hamas has rightly referred national issues to the necessity of formulating a comprehensive national position around them, but can merely formulating such a position without agreeing on an executive national framework that places national decision-making in a unified institutional context turn the Palestinian side into an influential player capable of defending this vision and following up its implementation? And can a mere committee of experts with limited roles and powers achieve that? Not to mention the requirements to prevent exclusivity, appropriation, and marginalization. It has become necessary to liberate society from narrow factional calculations that stand as an obstacle to the future of the issue, with the necessity of recognizing the sacrifices of all in the national struggle, and the high price paid by the Palestinian people in this journey.

The Authority's Return to Gaza Requires Consensus

The Palestinian Authority faces an existential test; it cannot restore its role in the Gaza Strip without comprehensive national consensus, mechanisms, and institutional rule capable of managing the next phase and thwarting Israeli plans. What is needed is the formulation of a unified national project based on the unity of decision and institutions as stipulated in the National Consensus Declaration in Beijing, which opens the way for restoring trust internally and externally in preparation for conducting general and inclusive elections within an agreed time frame and gathering international support for it as an entry point to exercise the right to self-determination.

Mediators: Limited Roles without Palestinian Consensus

Mediators are moving to ensure compliance with the declaration of ending the war, but their ability to ensure implementation is limited without an international umbrella and binding oversight mechanisms, and more importantly, without a united national position overseen by a consensus government that regains control over security, weapons, and reconstruction issues according to a vision centered on achieving national independence, not separating the Strip from the unified entity.

Washington: Consistent Bias and Possible Gap

The American administration, led by Trump, does not hide its bias towards Israel and treats the Palestinian file as a security issue. However, it is aware that the continuation of the conflict threatens regional stability and its interests. The Palestinian gap lies in the discourse of interest, not victimization: formulating a practical proposal linking regional stability with a comprehensive political solution. It is necessary to unify the national discourse and integrate it into the equations of American public opinion through Congress and decision-making centers and media.

Europe: A Vital Arena Open for Partnership

Europe is the most vital arena for Palestinian action. Public sympathy is no longer merely a moral issue; it has begun to transform into political positions among some governments and parliaments. The bet is to turn funding and reconstruction into political pressure tools and to link European support with the condition of ending the occupation, halting settlement, and recognizing the State of Palestine. Human rights and legal discourse is the key to Palestinian diplomacy on both official and popular levels, including also activating European pressure on Washington in the context of their changing interests.

The Arab Position and the Future of Normalization

The war has revealed the untenability of the notion of "normalization in exchange for stability." Any Arab path toward Israel not based on a clear commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and the centrality of ending the occupation will entrench Israeli dominance and undermine peace opportunities. Therefore, a collective Arab position is necessary to redefine the initiative as a pressure tool, making any progress in relations conditioned on clear withdrawal and a timeline for ending the occupation, and activating an Arab-European mechanism to monitor any subsequent agreements.

What is Required Nationally?

First: Rebuilding the Palestinian political system on the basis of comprehensive national consensus according to the Beijing Declaration, and hastening the formation of a national unity government according to the vision of the unity of the homeland and the institutions of the Palestinian people, and a consensus national council that defines the political and security reference and redefines the functions of resistance within the scope of collective decision-making.

Second: Activating the international accountability pathway through the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, along with an organized human rights and media campaign linking war crimes in Gaza with the necessity of ending the occupation in the West Bank.
Third: Strengthening partnership with international solidarity forces to transform public sympathy into sustained political and institutional pressure on Western governments.

Guarantees to Prevent the Return of Aggression

The priority is to provide practical guarantees that include: permanent international oversight of the ceasefire and violations with binding public reports; the establishment of a multi-party civil protection force under UN supervision or an Arab-European partnership; and linking any international cooperation with Israel to its commitment to international law and stopping occupation practices.

Transforming Solidarity into International Will

The war has proven that Palestinians, despite the destruction, hold the moral initiative. What is needed is to transform this legitimacy into a political vision that addresses Washington in the language of interest, Brussels in the language of law and justice, Arabs in the language of collective commitment, and the people in the language of partnership and dignity. Only when national action unites and politics is managed in the spirit of higher interests can the Sharm el-Sheikh declaration to end the war be turned into a path that opens the way toward freedom and statehood, not a pause before another round of blood.