A year on, where does Trump's Gaza peace plan stand?

AI Summary

A year after the first phase of a US-backed Gaza ceasefire agreement, the peace plan remains stalled and Israel is reported to control about 70 percent of the territory. Key provisions, including Israeli withdrawal, reconstruction, and the transition to a second phase, remain unfulfilled amid continued regional conflict.

On Oct 10, 2025, Israel began pulling its troops from parts of Gaza as a peace agreement it signed with Hamas went into effect. A year later, it has expanded its occupation to about 70 per cent of the Palestinian territory — one of its many violations of that ceasefire. The 20-point peace plan envisaged by United States President Donald Trump, titled ‘Comprehensive Plan to End Gaza Conflict’, has not just remained stalled; it has been torn apart by Washington’s own ally Israel. At the time, Trump had touted the plan as a breakthrough that would bring “eternal peace” to the Middle East. He later launched his own military campaign alongside Israel in the war against Iran. The initial phase resulted in a ceasefire on Oct 10, 2025 and secured the release of the last remaining captives seized in Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel, along with freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel. While the October 10 agreement pertained only to the first phase of the peace plan, the roadmap laid out by Trump had offered the world a glimmer of hope for some semblance of calm in the shattered Palestinian territory. Yet a year on, many of the plan’s goals have yet to materialise, including securing an Israeli withdrawal and rebuilding Gaza. Dawn takes a look at which guarantees have been achieved and what remain unfulfilled promises to the Palestinians, and to peace. What was the plan? The first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan included a suspension of all military operations, Israeli withdrawal from part of ‌the enclave, captive and prisoner releases and a surge in aid. While the first phase of the plan remains incomplete due to the large presence of Israeli troops, the US had announced moving on to the second phase in January, which also remains stalled. (function() { var minH = 50; var maxH = 30000; // Capture the specific iframe for this script instance synchronously var scripts = document.getElementsByTagName('script'); var currentScript = document.currentScript || scripts[scripts.length - 1]; var wrapper = currentScript; while (wrapper && (!wrapper.classList || !wrapper.classList.contains('raw-html-embed-wrapper'))) { wrapper = wrapper.parentNode; } if (!wrapper) return; var iframe = wrapper.querySelector('.raw-html-embed'); if (!iframe || iframe._rawHtmlResizerAttached) return; iframe._rawHtmlResizerAttached = true; function setupScrollCoordination(d) { if (iframe._scrollCoordinationAttached) return; iframe._scrollCoordinationAttached = true; // 1. In-page anchors (like href="#app"): scroll both iframe and parent page smoothly d.addEventListener('click', function(e) { var a = e.target.closest && e.target.closest('a[href^="#"]'); if (!a) return; var hash = a.getAttribute('href'); if (!hash || hash === '#') return; var id = decodeURIComponent(hash.slice(1)); var target = d.getElementById(id) || d.querySelector(hash); if (!target) return; e.preventDefault(); target.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'start' }); try { var rect = iframe.getBoundingClientRect(); if (Math.abs(rect.top) > 5) { window.scrollBy({ top: rect.top, behavior: 'smooth' }); } } catch (err) {} }); // 2. Desktop Mouse Wheel / Trackpad coordination d.addEventListener('wheel', function(e) { var rect = iframe.getBoundingClientRect(); var iframeScroll = (d.documentElement.scrollTop || d.body.scrollTop || (iframe.contentWindow && iframe.contentWindow.scrollY) || 0); // If parent header is still visible above iframe, scroll the parent page first if (rect.top > 1 && e.deltaY > 0) { window.scrollBy({ top: e.deltaY, behavior: 'auto' }); e.preventDefault(); return; } // If at top of iframe and rolling wheel up, scroll parent page up if (iframeScroll = maxScroll - 2 && e.deltaY > 0) { window.scrollBy({ top: e.deltaY, behavior: 'auto' }); e.preventDefault(); return; } }, { passive: false }); // 3. Mobile touch coordination (smooth, no frame-by-frame jank) var touchStartY = 0; var isInteractive = false; try { d.addEventListener('touchstart', function(e) { if (e.touches && e.touches.length) { touchStartY = e.touches[0].clientY; isInteractive = !!(e.target.closest && e.t