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In an article in The Hindu last week, veteran diplomat Chinmaya Gharekhan said that the road to peace in West Asia runs through Palestinian statehood. He hit the nail on the head. What appears to be a hugely complicated regional tangle can only be untangled by addressing the Palestinian statehood issue. As he pointed out, all the conflicts of the region – the war in Gaza, the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Hezbollah-Israel war and the Houthi movement – “will not be resolved unless a viable Palestinian state comes into being.”

In fact, he points out that UN Security Council Resolution 2803, supported by the US, and whose Annex outlines Trump’s 20-point peace plan, explicitly envisages a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” The resolution, adopted in November 2025, endorsed the Trump plan and established the framework for a transitional administration and an international stabilisation force in Gaza.

As is evident, the issue of Gaza remains a pill stuck in the throats of the US and Israel. The latter does not seem to want to work along the American peace proposal even though Hamas has now agreed to a roadmap for disarmament. The agreement envisages the surrender and storage of weapons under Palestinian and international supervision, linked to the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But Israel has so far refused to commit to the withdrawal demanded under the plan, insisting that Hamas must first be completely disarmed.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

The Israelis seem to believe they can simply stall the process indefinitely. But there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the longer the political process remains frozen, the more difficult it becomes to rebuild the territory and restore any semblance of normal life. Perhaps that is what Israel is aiming for.

The Trump plan itself envisages Gaza being administered temporarily by a Palestinian technocratic committee under international supervision before the Palestinian Authority can resume control. Egypt and Jordan are expected to assist with security and policing, but neither is interested in assuming........

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