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SvennoJ on 05 October 2025
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‘Trump plan has no connection to reality in Gaza’

On Al Jazeera’s UpFront, expert Norman Finkelstein tells Marc Lamont Hill why he believes Trump’s deal is the weakest yet with no path to justice.

The US president has released a Gaza plan that would put the enclave under a Trump-chaired “Board of Peace”. While some in the international community have welcomed the move, others question the fact that it bypasses Palestinians and offers no path to statehood.

So, with Netanyahu pledging not to fully withdraw from Gaza, will this deal bring genuine peace or cement the status quo?



I have no doubt in my mind the 'peace' plan is nothing but a plan to try to legitimize the occupation by putting an international spin on it. But my hope is that the bombing will actually stop for a while and stop long enough for aid to get in and the true scale of the genocide to come out.

With the prisoners out of the way, Trump and Netanyahu loose half of their rhetoric to keep the genocide going and weaken the Hamas narrative. It will be Hamas that is seen as being reasonable, ready to step down, just not ready to disarm nor agree to permanent occupation by a 'peace' board led by Trump and Tony Blair... And then parallels to the IRA not submitting their weapons until 7 years after the Good Friday agreement will be in favor of Hamas holding on to theirs as safeguard. 

So while this plan will never lead to enduring peace, it can lead to more pressure to end the genocide and get some desperately needed aid in.


Gaza talks in Egypt: What to know

  • Negotiators and officials from the mediating countries are converging in Egypt before the talks.
  • According to Egypt’s state-linked media, Hamas and Israeli officials are to hold indirect talks on Sunday and Monday – a common practice between the sides.
  • Trump has dispatched two envoys to Egypt, according to the White House, sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his main Middle East negotiator, Steve Witkoff.
  • The US president has told Hamas once it agrees to Israel’s initial military withdrawal line in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire would be triggered.
  • The talks are being held after Hamas agreed to release the Israeli captives held in Gaza and accept some other terms in Trump’s Gaza plan, but questions surround vexing issues, such as Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip and Hamas’s disarmament.
  • Netanyahu has expressed hope that the captives would be released in a matter of days, but his army continues its attacks on Gaza, killing dozens of people, despite Trump’s call for a halt to the bombing.