Hamas’s agreement to US president Donald Trump’s disarmament roadmap is welcome news. It potentially unlocks the stalemate that has kept 2 million Gazans living in catastrophic conditions since the ceasefire was announced more than nine months ago.

But there are concerns. Israel is unlikely to accept the plan, as it will require the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to try to stall at least until elections are held in late October.

Hamas knows this, and being in no rush to disarm, will also be content to slow-walk the process. If or when there are additional negotiations, each party is likely to object to the details to delay the process further or suspend it altogether.

Some of these hurdles can be overcome through sustained diplomatic engagement and pressure on both parties. But this is far from guaranteed. And an additional challenge that could derail any potential progress looms large beyond Gaza’s borders: the deteriorating situation in the West Bank.

I just returned from a month of fieldwork in the West Bank, meeting with local NGO workers, community leaders and youth activists and documenting settler violence, forced displacement and land seizures. Many people I met, whether in cities, refugee camps or rural areas, said they fear a repeat of Gaza in the West Bank. They fear another major war, another Nakba (meaning “catastrophe”: the term Palestinians use to describe the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948). One person I spoke with said they felt as if “it’s going to explode”. This is a common view among people in the West Bank.

After spending weeks travelling around the territory, it wasn’t hard to see why. I have been visiting the region for more than 20 years, and life in the........

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