{"id":94930,"date":"2025-02-07T16:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T14:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=94930"},"modified":"2025-02-07T16:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T14:23:15","slug":"middle-east-report-trumps-gaza-plan-threatens-ceasefire-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/middle-east-report-trumps-gaza-plan-threatens-ceasefire-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East Report \u2013 Trump\u2019s Gaza plan threatens Ceasefire talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n7 February 2025 | 16:20 CAT
\n2 min read<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal regarding Gaza has sparked fears of derailing ongoing ceasefire negotiations and jeopardising Saudi recognition of Israel, according to award-winning scholar and journalist Dr James M. Dorsey.<\/p>\n

Dorsey explained that the ceasefire plan for Gaza had three phases, with only the first phase fully negotiated. “The second phase is to be negotiated. Those negotiations are supposed to start this week. In fact, they were supposed to start on Monday,” he said. These discussions aim to ensure further prisoner exchanges and, crucially, the “complete and final withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”<\/p>\n

However, he warned that Trump’s plan\u2014interpreted by many as an effort to take control of Gaza and expel Palestinians\u2014could render the negotiations meaningless. “There\u2019s nothing to negotiate if the United States is taking over, claiming it\u2019s its territory, and then wanting to expel the population and build an upmarket beach resort, essentially,” Dorsey said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the immediate ceasefire, Trump\u2019s proposal also risks shifting the nature of the Gaza war itself. “You could start to see the character of the Gaza war change, with Hamas suddenly becoming, with Arab support, a resistance movement against ethnic cleansing,” he noted.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia draws a line<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Trump\u2019s statements have also cast doubt on Saudi Arabia\u2019s potential diplomatic recognition of Israel. “Saudi Arabia has made very clear, and it did so immediately after Trump announced his plan, that it will settle for nothing less than a Palestinian state alongside Israel in exchange for diplomatic relations,” Dorsey stated. Yet, he pointed out a potential silver lining\u2014Saudi Arabia\u2019s financial leverage over the U.S. “On the eve of Trump making his announcement, Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, and Trump were essentially negotiating how much Saudi Arabia would invest in the United States over the coming four years of Trump\u2019s presidency,” he revealed, citing figures ranging from $600 billion to a trillion dollars. “That gives Saudi Arabia leverage, and we’ll have to see how that plays out in the near future.”<\/p>\n

West Bank uncertainty<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While Gaza remains the focus, Trump\u2019s stance on the West Bank also raises questions. “Trump keeps everyone guessing as he weighs endorsing Israeli annexation of the West Bank,” Dorsey noted, recalling Trump\u2019s previous moves, such as recognising Israel\u2019s control over East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

During his recent announcement, Trump briefly addressed the West Bank, stating he would reveal the U.S. position on its potential annexation within four weeks. Dorsey believes this could be part of Trump\u2019s familiar strategy of unpredictability. “Trump likes to play the unpredictable madman who throws out these things, intimidates his rivals, his interlocutors, and changes the discourse in the process,” he suggested.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s words could serve multiple purposes, Dorsey argued. “He may be saying to the Saudis, \u2018You may want to do this deal on diplomatic relations with Israel sooner rather than later because you\u2019ve got this madman in Jerusalem.\u2019 And he may be saying to the Iranians, \u2018You may want to negotiate a new nuclear agreement sooner rather than later before this madman in Jerusalem attacks you.\u2019”<\/p>\n

Algeria\u2019s unexpected move<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In an unexpected development, Algeria\u2014traditionally a vocal critic of Israel\u2014has hinted at potential recognition of the country if Israel accepts an independent Palestinian state. “This is indeed one fallout of Trump\u2019s Gaza resettlement plan,” Dorsey remarked.<\/p>\n

Algeria\u2019s statement aligns with previous positions taken by other Arab and Muslim nations. “To be fair, the principle of recognizing Israel if Israel accepts a Palestinian state goes back to the 1982 Arab peace plan launched by Saudi Arabia,” Dorsey said. However, he emphasized that this was the first time Algeria had explicitly made such a policy statement, and its timing was significant.<\/p>\n

As tensions rise and diplomatic calculations shift, the impact of Trump\u2019s proposal on the region remains uncertain. “We’ve got to wait and see what this really all means,” Dorsey concluded.<\/p>\n

LISTEN<\/strong> to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Dr James M. Dorsey, an Award-winning scholar & journalist,\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
\n<\/strong>Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist, scholar, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore\u2019s Middle East Institute. He is the author of \u2018The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za 7 February 2025 | 16:20 CAT 2 min read U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal regarding Gaza has sparked fears of derailing ongoing ceasefire negotiations and jeopardising Saudi recognition of Israel, according to award-winning scholar and journalist Dr James M. Dorsey. Dorsey explained that the ceasefire plan for Gaza had three phases, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":94931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Middle-East-Report-13.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-oH8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 08:59:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}