MY TURN: Gaza Peace Plan

Hamas is an Islamist Palestinian political organization that has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007. The organization was founded by Palestinian Islamic scholar Ahmed Yassin in 1987. The Gaza Strip is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories. The other is the West Bank. Initially, Hamas was supported by Israel as a counterbalance to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state. The United Nations officially recognized the State of Palestine in 1974. Founded in 1964, the PLO initially sought to establish an Arab state over the entire territory of the former Palestine, advocating the elimination of Israel. In October 2018, the PLO Central Council suspended the Palestinian recognition of Israel.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, dismantled its settlements and withdrew its military. In 2006, Hamas secured a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation. In the 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from rival Palestinian faction Fatah. Fatah retains control of the West Bank.

Fatah is a Palestinian political faction founded in the 1950s and was a long-dominant faction within the PLO. Israel placed movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip after Hamas takeover. Hamas has attacked Israel by launching rockets at Israeli cities and civilians through suicide bombings. The United States, the European Union and numerous other countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israeli civilians through suicide bombings, as well as launching rockets at Israeli cities.

In September 2025, the Gaza Peace Plan, a multilateral agreement between Israel and Hamas, was negotiated by the United States and several Arab and Muslim countries. It was signed Oct. 9 and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on Nov. 17 that year.

This “ceasefire” agreement was violated in October 2025 when militants opened fire in northern Gaza, killing four Israeli soldiers. In retaliation, Israeli air strikes have killed numerous Palestinians, including several in February 2026. The agreement included exchanging hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held by Israel.

The agreement also included a provision for humanitarian aid and heavy equipment to clear rubble and start rebuilding the country. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, 71,800 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack and took around 250 hostages.

In that same news article, it says that “Israel accuses Hamas fighters of operating beyond the truce line splitting Gaza in half, threatening its troops and occasionally opening fire, while Hamas accuses Israeli forces of gunfire and strikes on residential areas far from the line.”

In January 2026, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who played a key role in brokering the truce, said it was time for “transitioning from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.”

The declaration of the State of Israel was announced May 14, 1948, and the United States, under President Harry S. Truman, was the first country to recognize the “State of Israel.” Decades of negotiation for Jewish nationalism and a homeland for Palestine led to the creation of Isreal as a state.

With the Gaza Peace Plan in place, the ancient Israelites who established a united kingdom around 1020 B.C.E. evolved their civilization and finally had a homeland where Arabs and Jews could live and prosper together.

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Jack Evensizer resides in Dalton Gardens and is a veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry.