Congress, You Have a Chance to Implement Trump Gaza Plan Right

Carol Daniel-Kasbari, Carter Center Conflict Resolution senior associate director, authored this op-ed for Responsible Statecraft. The op-ed calls on Congress to assert its authority to ensure the plan does not replicate old mistakes or marginalize Palestinians in shaping their future.

Op-Ed Excerpt

You hold the power of the purse, and it is in our best interest to make sure loopholes are closed and actual Palestinians play a role.

Weeks have passed since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2803, endorsing a U.S.-backed plan that creates a “Board of Peace” to run Gaza for at least two years and authorizes a new International Stabilization Force (ISF) to secure the territory after a ceasefire.

Supporters call it a diplomatic breakthrough. For many Palestinians, it looks like something else: Oslo with helmets, heavy on security, light on rights, and controlled from outside.

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. In September, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry reported that Israeli forces have committed genocide in Gaza, citing “direct evidence of genocidal intent,” and urging states to halt arms transfers and support accountability.

A UN Special Rapporteur, in a report to the General Assembly titled Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime has likewise described the ongoing destruction as genocide sustained by the complicity of powerful states.

None of this will be easy. For decades, members of Congress who tried to place concrete conditions on U.S. policy toward Israel or on security assistance have faced concentrated pushback – from the Israeli government itself, its diplomatic outreach on the Hill, and a dense ecosystem of advocacy groups, donors, and lobbyists that track these issues closely…