Trump's Gaza peace plan fails Palestinians, say residents in Malta

When US President Donald Trump set out his new peace plan for Gaza, promising security guarantees for Israel and a demilitarised Palestinian state, many in the international community, including Malta, watched with hope.

But for Palestinians in Malta with family and friends still living through the conflict, the debate is not about Trump's blueprint. It is about survival and about ending a war that has torn through their lives for nearly two years.

The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the remains of over two dozen hostages, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans.

Malta welcomed the proposal, with Prime Minister Robert Abela calling on “all parties to commit to a just two-state solution that upholds the rights and aspirations of both peoples”. Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg echoed this, urging parties to work towards “a just peace based on the two-state solution and international law”.

However, Ahmed Abu Jame, 21, from Gaza, told MaltaToday that whilst he supports ending the war, any plan must benefit both sides equally. He pointed out that the final version announced in Washington differs significantly from the draft shown to Arab leaders at the UN in New York.

“I agree with installing peace and stopping war but with a plan that would equally benefit both sides and not biased to one side,” Abu Jame said.

He explained key details were removed from the original draft, including the specification of 600 aid trucks entering Gaza daily, the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, and the timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw.

Plan gives Israel control over troop withdrawals and aid

The announced plan gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu control over troop withdrawals and aid distribution. Abu Jame warned this could lead to systematic starvation, noting that over a thousand Palestinians have been killed at aid distribution points when Israel shut borders and allowed American agencies to control supplies.

He also pointed out that the plan enables Israeli forces to remain in Rafah, south of Gaza, near the border with Egypt, controlling the Philadelphia Crossing. This, he said, violates the peaceful treaty between Israel and Egypt in the Philadelphi Accord 2006.

Netanyahu has accepted the proposal, warning that Israel “will finish the job” if Hamas rejects it. He also stressed his opposition to a Palestinian state, saying “it is not written in the agreement”, and claimed the deal would allow Israeli forces to remain in Gaza.

“No Palestinian leadership was consulted during drafting this plan and under this announced plan there is no role for a Palestinian leadership for the rebuilding of Gaza or in devising post-war plan," Abu Jame said.

He argued that the debate should not focus solely on Hamas’s role in Gaza. “Hamas represents a political movement and a current of thought with which there are points of agreement and disagreement. What truly matters is that our governance must be based on Palestinian unity, with a government that includes all sectors of society and ensures that arms are placed under the full control of the state.”

The proposal places Gaza under the supervision of an international body, the Board of Peace, chaired by President Trump and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Abu Jame noted that Blair was among the politicians who laid the foundation for Gaza’s 17-year siege in 2006.

Future governance would be handled by a temporary “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” under the Board of Peace’s supervision. The plan states Palestinians will not be forced to leave Gaza but encouraged to stay and “build a better Gaza.”

Plan only recognises statehood as 'an aspiration'

Dania, a Palestinian now living in Malta, is also concerned about the plan. She emphasised that the plan does not recognise a Palestinian state but merely acknowledges statehood as “an aspiration” for Palestinians.

She explained that under the proposal, the Palestinian Authority would only be considered for a leadership role if it drops all cases at the International Criminal Court and changes its school curriculum and media.

“A truly elected and people-chosen Palestinian government is the one that should be allowed to rule Gaza. Not a politically appointed or a chosen government by the Israeli government or the US administration,” Dania said.

Both Abu Jame and Dania called for Palestinian leaders to be included directly in negotiations, not just through mediators. They want a permanent ceasefire, unconditional aid distribution through UN agencies, humanitarian corridors, medical evacuations for the critically ill, and an end to settlement expansion in the West Bank.

On the two-state solution, which Malta has urged parties to pursue, Dania was blunt: “A two-state solution has long been buried by the acts of the Israeli government.”

She explained Israel now controls more than 78% of historic Palestine, including half the territory allocated by the UN to Palestinians. The West Bank is divided into three areas, with 60% under Israeli administration, where more than 99% is off limits to Palestinians. About 330,000 Israelis live in settlements in this area.

Dania pointed to recent developments that undermine hope for two states. In July 2025, the Israeli Knesset approved a motion to annex the occupied West Bank, claiming it is “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel”.

“Israeli leaders never accepted the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel,” she said, noting that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the Oslo Accords, was assassinated shortly after.

The latest Trump plan calls for unilateral Palestinian demilitarisation whilst Israel maintains its military superiority and nuclear weapons. It does not prevent settlement expansion in the West Bank nor guarantee full protection or independence for Palestinians.

Nonetheless, the proposal has been welcomed by foreign ministers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan, who praised Trump’s “leadership and sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza”. European Council President Antonio Costa expressed hope and urged all parties to “seize this moment”.

The Palestinian Authority called Trump's efforts “sincere and determined”, whilst UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the plan “could represent a turning point”.

But while global leaders talked positively, Abu Jame stressed that any genuine peace must begin with implementing existing UN resolutions and international agreements on the two-state solution, establishing an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem as its capital.

“Every day that passes without an immediate ceasefire deepens the humanitarian catastrophe and undermines the very foundations of peace,” he concluded.