America First as a Template for the Global: Text of the U.S. Cease-Fire Plan for Gaza

 

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Merchants orient around transaction, like  (The "Merchant" (商), the "Bureaucrat" (士) and the "Tariff War"--The Cognitive Cages of the New Apex Post-Global and the Condition of the U.S. and China in their Folie à Deux). Transaction provide the foundation for what Merchants do best--negotiate; while officials tend to prefer a more guided (controlling?) managerialism (Merchants Negotiate and Officials Manage Discretion Fueled Legal Structures--While Mexico Bargains Brazil Adopts Countermeasures).

Merchants hate conflict, unless, of course, conflict is the predicate for transactions. But transaction in conflicts, however lucrative, tends to narrow substantially a broader spectrum of activities within with transaction is possible.   

How does the phenomenologically oriented merchant-type relate to conflict? Perhaps the best answer to that is to recall the grounding source of a merchant's cognitive cage--transactions. For the warrior it is conflict and security; for the official it is order and stability, for the peasant it is the risk bearing engagement with risk controlling forces beyond the peasant's control. But for the merchant it is the transaction. And it is not just the transaction, of course, but the elaboration of an environment in which transaction is possible and may be undertaken in a framework that is, and is grounded in, transactional thinking. From the position of semiotics, the transaction is simultaneously the object (action and result), its own signification (as interaction), and its own interpretation (the aggregated interpretation of transaction as system the purpose of which is transaction). This is neither capitalism, nor Marxist-Leninist development of productive forces; it is just what it holds itself out to be--transaction. . . the action, the idea and the object.  (The text of and Reflections on "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Secures Agreement to Establish United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund" )

If for no other reason perhaps, merchants embracing the foundational reality shaping generative principle of "transaction" will seek, not peace, but cease fire--a space within which it is possible to broadly project transactions, even if, at the end the ceasefire expires and another round of transactionally fueled conflict arises again, until the next cease fire. Or perhaps put differently, peace is understood as cease fire, and cease fire is enough to attain the statius of peace, for the time that peace is possible ("President Trump is the President of Peace" Reflections on the Power of Presidential Self-Revolution (自我革命), the Republic's Social Revolution (社会革命) and the Presidential Message: "President Trump Brokers Another Historic Peace Deal"). 

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That is the essence of the dialectic of transaction in contested spaces--not to end but to extend conflict through sequentially arranged blocks of "ceasefire", punctuated by periods of conflict that can then fuel ceasefire again. The ceasefire dialectic is paid for in blood--and indeed, requires a small and steady stream of blood, managed through principles of proportionality that serve as the means by which an acceptable level of blood sacrifice is exacted as the price for cease fire, until, it is not. Semiotically, however, ceasefire perhaps represents a peculiar application of the principle of the proportionality of violence in the face of the irreconcilable  but now assessed across time--a temporally embedded proportionality, or a proportionality of time.  

That, perhaps, might be one way of approaching the Multi-Point Ceasefire plan for Gaza proposed by the Trump Administration and endorsed by the Prime Minister of Israel on 29 September. As reported by the New York Times, the elements of the Ceasefire Plan are these:

 Here is the full text of the proposal, provided by the White House.

• Gaza will be a de-radicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.

• Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.

• If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.

• Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.

• Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after Oct. 7, 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.

• Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.

• Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the Jan. 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.

• Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the Jan. 19, 2025, agreement.

• Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.

• This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

• This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.

• A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.

• A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.

• No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.

• Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.

• A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.

• The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (I.S.F.) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The I.S.F. will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The I.S.F. will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A de-confliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties.

• Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the I.S.F. establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (I.D.F.) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and time frames linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the I.D.F., I.S.F., the guarantors, and the United States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the I.D.F. will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.

• In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the I.D.F. to the I.S.F.

• An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence to try and change mind-sets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.

• While Gaza redevelopment advances and when the P.A. reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.

• The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence. (also listed here)

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There is nothing necessarily odd about the plan, and it reflects a variety of positions and offers of pathways to ceasefire that have been raised and rejected.  But time shave changed and perhaps this one will work, including, as it does, a modern day temporary International Mandate status for Gaza until it is "de-Hamasified" and (a much more interesting task) the apparatus of the West bank is cleaned up.  That suggests a very long road, indeed, especially for those who would prefer to see a Jew free Middle East however nicely they might dress it up, or those who would prefer the two State solution to finally die after the mortal blow it received in 2000 at the hands of the MENA belligerents and their strategists elsewhere or the status quo (a discussion from the sidelines here). President Trump also included his sense of the state of support for the initiative: Global Support for President Trump’s Bold Vision for Peace in Gaza.

What makes this most interesting is this: "Mr. Trump, speaking alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would have his “full backing” to eliminate the threat of Hamas if the militant group does not agree to its terms. Hamas said it was not consulted on the proposal." (here). And yet that may the essence of America First and the bordering of inclusion. One deal may breed others. And lots of deals may breed a longer peace or a more tolerable state of violence. And at its best it suggests the sort of religio-cultural clean up that may be a necessary predicate for a longer term cease fire that may, in turn, morph into something else. The challenge will be to avoid the trap of reproducing the structures of corruption and displacement that had haunted the administration of this area for some time leading to 7 October, and its aftermath. 

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