Gaza, which had been out of the spotlight for a while due to Israel's 12-day war with Iran, returned to the agenda when U.S. President Donald Trump forced both sides to agree to a cease-fire. The Israeli government turned its attention to Gaza before even assessing the damage and losses caused by Iran's missile attacks, and rumours began to circulate that a new plan was being prepared to replace the cease-fire agreement that was violated on March 18, 2025.
Donald Trump, both during his visit to the Hague for the NATO Summit and at a press conference upon his return to the United States, stated that he was monitoring the situation in Gaza and that a new cease-fire process could begin within two weeks, thereby raising expectations on this issue.
Immediately afterward, Steve Witkoff, Trump's special representative for the Middle East and the architect of the previous cease-fire agreement, held talks with all parties concerned and prepared a new cease-fire plan. Reports on the possible contents of the cease-fire plan began to appear in the Israeli media.
As will be recalled, Witkoff, even before Trump took office, met with Israeli officials and Hamas leaders and negotiated a cease-fire plan that could be considered balanced, which came into effect on Jan. 19, 2025. The three-phase plan included the release of a certain number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the cessation of Israeli attacks and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the lifting of restrictions on Gazans and allowing them to return to their homes, allowing humanitarian aid to enter, and in the final stages, initiating efforts to rebuild Gaza.
However, Israel did not adhere to this plan, both for internal political reasons and because it did not want to withdraw from Gaza again, and finally broke the cease-fire on March 18 and resumed its attacks on Gaza.
Therefore, it was expected that the provisions that could not be implemented in the previous plan would be implemented in the new cease-fire plan. However, when the draft of the new plan was leaked to the media, it became clear that this was not the case. In fact, not only did the new cease-fire plan have nothing to do with the previous plan, but it also became clear that the intention was not to stop the attacks on Gaza and rescue the hostages, given the other provisions added to the plan.
According to the new cease-fire plan, the cease-fire will come into effect within two weeks, all hostages held by Hamas will be released, the administration of Gaza will be transferred to four Arab countries, including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Saudi Arabia will normalise relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords, the United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over certain parts of the West Bank, and Israel will express its support for continuing the two-state solution plan after certain reforms are implemented in the Palestinian Authority. However, there is another issue that is not yet in the text but is being discussed behind the scenes: the exile of Hamas leaders and the relocation of the people of Gaza to third countries, supposedly on a voluntary basis.
As can be understood from the content of the new cease-fire plan, this plan does not aim to end the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. In fact, there is no mention of Israel stopping its attacks or withdrawing its troops from Gaza. Instead, there is serious talk of deporting both the people of Gaza and Hamas leaders, completely emptying Gaza.
Therefore, it is clear that the new cease-fire plan does not aim to protect the people of Gaza, but rather to get rid of the Gazans and rebuild Gaza as the "Riviera of the Middle East," as Trump announced. To achieve this, they are pretending to enforce a cease-fire in Gaza, while in the background, Israel is trying to implement its regional plans.
On the other hand, the fact that the U.S. will recognize Israeli sovereignty in some parts of the West Bank and that Israel may make certain concessions on a two-state solution once certain conditions are met shows that the issue now goes beyond Gaza. These points remind us of the so-called “Deal of the Century” proposed in 2020 and lead us to believe that the plan, which could not be implemented at the time, is now being attempted.
Although there have been previous claims that the administration of Gaza would be transferred to four Arab countries, including Egypt and the UAE, this is the first time that this issue has been made official. Similarly, provisions regarding Syria and Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel as parties to the Abraham Accords indicate that the Abraham Accords process, which was initiated at the end of Trump's first term but later stalled, is being expanded and continued, thereby disregarding the Palestinians and striving to normalise Israel's relations with other Arab countries in the region.
Shortly after the cease-fire process between Israel and Iran began, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu posted a message of gratitude to Trump on billboards in the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel's capital. The second thing he shared was a photo published under the headline “The Abraham Alliance: It’s Time for a New Middle East.” What makes this photo interesting is that it includes not only the leaders of the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, who were previously parties to the Abraham Accords, and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, who have signed peace agreements with Israel, but also the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Syria, and Lebanon, who have not yet normalized relations with Israel, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Considering that Israel continues to attack Syria and Lebanon and, in particular, occupies part of Syria's territory, it is unrealistic to expect the leaders of these countries to normalize relations with Israel under the current circumstances. Similarly, it is understood that Oman and Saudi Arabia are also part of Israel's new Middle East utopia, and considering that these countries have made the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the framework of a two-state solution plan a condition, it is clear that their presence in this picture is meaningless.
However, what is really interesting is the leaders who are not included in the new Middle East picture. As far as we can tell, Israel's new Middle East vision has no place for Türkiye, Iran, Qatar or Iraq. However, despite all the support Israel receives from the U.S., it is unlikely that it will be able to build a Middle East that excludes two imperial remnant states, such as Türkiye and Iran, hiding behind Gaza.
As a result, Israel believes that it has achieved most of its objectives in the war it waged against Iran and has turned its attention back to Gaza in order to finish what it started. Realizing that Iran and the so-called resistance axis can no longer hinder its progress, Israel, relying on the support provided by Trump in the war against Iran, has dictated to Witkoff a multi-faceted plan to eliminate Gaza as a problem for itself.
What Witkoff presents as a cease-fire plan for Gaza is actually nothing more than Israel's new Middle East plan, which it has been trying to implement for years. And there is no place in the plan for Gaza, Hamas or the Palestinians. This plan is nothing more than a rag thrown out not to save the people of Gaza, who have been struggling to survive for over a year and a half, but to get rid of them.
However, it is debatable whether Israel is still capable of implementing this plan after the blows it has suffered from Iran. Despite all its technological superiority, Israel, which cannot defeat its distant enemy, will never achieve victory by disregarding the Palestinians.
