The global push to give Palestinians their own nation appears no closer to fruition, a leading expert warns, despite Israel and Hamas signing on to the first stage of a 20-point peace plan.
The warring sides have agreed to lay down their weapons, marking a turning point in the conflict that flared after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023.
Since then, tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed in ongoing Israeli attacks, according to local authorities.
Some world leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have expressed hope the ceasefire could lead to a two-state solution, which would mean Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in their own nations.
But Anas Iqtait, a senior lecturer at the Australian National University’s Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, said the Israeli government had made clear it did not support a two-state solution.
“The two-state solution is dead,” he told AAP.
“Facts on the ground don’t support it. The Israeli bureaucracy doesn’t support it.”
Under the deal brokered by the United States, Hamas will release the remaining Israeli hostages it has been holding in Gaza and Israel will free nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners, potentially including the leaders of some Palestinian political parties.
Israeli forces would withdraw from most of Gaza to an agreed-upon point, US President Donald Trump said.
Dr Iqtait said the initial elements of the deal were likely to be honoured but any progress beyond that would be uncertain.
“Are we going to see a permanent end to the war? Are we going to see Israel withdraw from the Gaza strip? Are we going to see the lifting of the humanitarian blockade that has been in place for a very long time?” he asked.
“These are questions that remain to be addressed.”
Despite the long-term uncertainty about the future of the Middle East, the prime minister and opposition leader both cautiously backed Mr Trump’s peace plan, saying it provided a path out of the conflict.
Anthony Albanese said the deal gave the world “cause for real hope”.
“The past two years have been full of dark days,” he told parliament on Thursday.
“Today we see a ray of light.”
Sussan Ley hailed the agreement as the “start of the end of this war, and the beginning of enduring peace”.
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