Gaza must decide its own political future — before the world does for us
Palestinians watch as others return from the southern parts of the Gaza Strip to the north along the coastal Al-Rashid road, 10 October 2025
Mahmoud Mushtaha writes in +972 on 16 October 2025:
On Monday [13 October 2025], world leaders gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh to promote what they described as a new “path toward peace” in Gaza. The summit was ostensibly intended to consolidate the phases of the ceasefire and outline a long-term governance and reconstruction plan for the Strip. Yet it ended with an ambiguous roadmap and an uncertain future for Palestinians — who, as usual, were entirely left out from the conversation.
No representatives from Gaza were present in those meetings, nor was there any public consultation or transparency about what was being discussed. For people in Gaza, information came only in fragments, filtered through foreign media and speculation, leaving them unsure what political bargains are being shaped in their name.
At the head of these discussions is the United States, which continues to refuse to recognize Palestine as a state, while simultaneously rejecting the Palestinian Authority’s representation at the UN. Foreign diplomats speak of my homeland’s prospects as if it were a technical problem to be managed, and negotiate a “future” for Gaza without acknowledging its political existence or the right of its people to representation.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s political system has collapsed. Hamas’ senior leadership has been killed, detained, or cut off, the PA remains absent, and no credible body exists to represent more than 2 million displaced civilians. Inside the Strip, clashes have erupted between Hamas and rival Palestinian militias, with armed confrontations and public executions spreading fear among civilians. These scenes have raised deep concerns that a new wave of internal violence could inflict even greater pain on an already shattered population.
What unfolded in Sharm El-Sheikh was not an effort to bring real change for Palestinians, but rather another act of regional choreography — a vision of a Middle East built around Israeli and U.S. interests, not Palestinian rights.
Based on what we know so far, U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which he touts as one that will lead to “strong, durable, and everlasting peace,” will see Israel retain control of the Strip’s borders, airspace, and aid flows, with the very international actors who armed and financed its genocidal assault now acting as mediators and monitors of compliance.