By Somar Wijayadasa*
NEW YORK | 1 October 2025 (IDN) — Nearly two years into the genocidal war in Gaza, the international community has reached a turning point. With a historic genocide ruling from the UN, a sweeping diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood, and mounting pressure on Israel, world leaders are now acting with rare unity.
The US President Donald Trump has proposed a 20-point plan that may end Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 66,000 people and wounded over 168,000 since it began in October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be dead and trapped under the rubble.
Trump’s previous plans to entice Palestinians with a $50 billion “Peace to Posterity” and the proposal to turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” were dead on arrival.
The exigency for another plan arose thanks to decades of persistence by the United Nations, and decisions and denunciations of Israel by the UN Human Rights Commission, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and finally after 157 UN member states – including almost all major powers except the United States – denounced Israel of genocide and recognised the State of Palestine as a sovereign state.
Diplomacy was uncertain following Israel’s unprecedented strike in Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas leaders who were negotiating a peace deal. It also roiled US allies in the Middle East.
Since then, Israel has been relentlessly destroying Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, killing dozens of civilians daily, decimating residential buildings, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to the south of Gaza, which is also already ruined.
UN General Assembly – Diplomatic Shift
This year’s Assembly coincided with the 12-month timeframe mandated by UNGA resolution (A/RES/ES-10/24) for Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures.
Also, the International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory ruled that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza”.
Its 72-page report alleges that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. It cited killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births – meet the legal definition of genocide.
A turning point for Palestine
What broke the camel’s back is perhaps the striking fact that nation after nation – including the major powers UK, France, Canada, Australia, and other countries broke with the United States and denounced Israel and recognised an independent Palestinian state. They also demanded that Hamas cannot be part of any future government.
Finally, 157 UN member states recognised a separate State for Palestine. At the same time, the United States is the only major world power still supporting Israel and voting against Palestine at the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council resolutions.
Addressing the UNGA, the US President Donald Trump said that the Gaza war should stop “immediately” but dismissed the recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries, calling it a “reward” for Hamas.
Trump assured that he would not allow Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed an almost empty Assembly Hall as hundreds of diplomats and delegates staged a walkout as he took to the podium. Also, thousands of protesters took to the streets of New York, brandishing “Free Palestine” signs.
Netanyahu called a two-state solution “sheer madness, it’s insane, and we won’t do it”, and vowed to “finish the job” in Gaza.
But at the meeting with President Trump at the White House, Netanyahu agreed to abide by Trump’s Plan for Gaza, still avowing that he will finish Hamas if it doesn’t agree to the new peace plan.
Accepting Trump’s Plan, Netanyahu said, “I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims. It will bring back to Israel all our hostages, dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities and its political rule, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel”.
Only President Trump can bring peace to Palestine
On the sidelines of the UNGA on 25 September, Trump presented his 20 Point Plan to the leaders of several Arab States, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia and Türkiye.
On 29 September, Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed on Trump’s plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war. The plan envisages establishing a temporary governing board for postwar governance of the war-battered Palestinian territory that Trump would head and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, of Iraq War infamy.
The plan does not require people to leave Gaza and calls for the war to end immediately if both sides accept it. It also calls for all remaining hostages to be released by Hamas within 72 hours after accepting the plan.
Trump said Israel would have the “full backing” of the United States to take steps to defeat Hamas if the group doesn’t accept the proposed peace deal.
Here are a few salient points of Trump’s credible Peace Plan:
A permanent ceasefire; All 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza to be released immediately; Allow entry of humanitarian aid, freezing battle lines, and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli military jails; Disarm Hamas and amnesty for Hamas members who renounce violence; Israeli withdrawal from all of the Gaza Strip; A governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas; A security force that would include Palestinians but also soldiers from Arab and Muslim countries; Funding from Arab and Muslim countries for the new administration in Gaza and for reconstruction of the enclave; Transition to Palestinian Authority (PA)–led self-rule contingent on reforms and security benchmarks.
As a fervent observer of the Palestine conundrum for the last 50 years since my UN days at the UN in 1973, I foresee several major obstacles: Hamas may disagree; Israel’s defiance on IDF withdrawals from Palestine territories; Israel lifting all blockades from all entry/exit points to/from neighboring States, especially Egypt and Jordan; and whether Israel will withdraw to 1967 borders, and end its occupation of Palestinian territory as mandated by the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. Non-compliance with any of the above may jeopardise Trump’s Peace Plan.
This is the first time in decades that international law, public opinion, and diplomacy are aligning against Israeli occupation – and in favour of decisive peace.
Finally, it looks like the world is ready to take concrete actions to halt the genocide and the unlawful occupation of Palestine in compliance with the legal obligations under international law.
*Somar Wijayadasa was a Faculty Member of the University of Sri Lanka (1967-1972); worked for UN Agencies IAEA and FAO (1973-1985): delegate of UNESCO to the UN General Assembly (1985-1995); and was the Director/Representative of UNAIDS at the United Nations from 1995-2000. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Image source: Al Jazeera