Donald Trump has achieved the photo he was after: the role that puts an end to two years of war in Gaza. But something more than a signature is missing from that paper: a word is missing. In the three pages of the so-called Trump Declaration for Lasting Peace and Prosperity, released by the White House after the Sharm el Sheikh ceremony, the term “Palestinian State” does not appear even once.
The agreement, signed by Trump himself together with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, proclaims “a new chapter for the region defined by hope, security and a shared vision of peace and prosperity.” It promises “peace, security, stability and opportunity for all people in the region, including both Palestinians and Israelis.” It talks about human rights, dignity, dialogue. But at no time of sovereignty, self-determination or Palestinian independence.
The text strives for an almost surgical balance: “We understand that a lasting peace will be one in which both Palestinians and Israelis can prosper with their fundamental human rights protected, their security guaranteed and their dignity respected.” At first glance it seems like a fair promise. But by avoiding any reference to the two-state formula, the plan turns Palestine into a humanitarian, not a political, subject.
Trump confirmed this hours later, on Air Force One, when reporters asked him if he supported the creation of the Palestinian state. “I am not going to talk about a single State or a double State or two States; we are referring to the reconstruction of Gaza,” he responded. And he concluded: “We’ll have to see. I haven’t commented anything about it.”
It’s all in that sentence. The American president has signed a peace that speaks of reconstruction, but not recognition; of stability, but not of national rights. A document that promises coexistence without defining how to coexist.
The omission contrasts with what the world considers a basic consensus. The United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League and most governments have maintained for decades that there will only be true peace when there are two States, Israel and Palestine, living within secure and recognized borders. It is the principle enshrined in Security Council Resolution 242 and that has guided every diplomatic attempt since the Oslo Accords of 1993.
Trump breaks with that tradition. Where his predecessors spoke of a political solution, he speaks of management. “We commit to resolving future disputes through diplomatic engagement and negotiation, rather than resorting to force or protracted conflict,” the statement said. But without setting borders, or government, or calendar. Just the generic wish that “future generations prosper together in peace.”
On the ground, reality does not match that optimism. Gaza is today a devastated territory, with more than 67,000 dead and 170,000 injured in two years of war, according to the local Ministry of Health. The UN estimates that 92% of homes have been destroyed or damaged and is already talking about a “second Nakba”. “We have seen how humanity was emptied in Gaza,” warns Sarah Avrillaud, of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Trump’s agreement promises “tolerance, dignity and equal opportunity for all people,” but that dignity can hardly flourish where sovereignty does not exist. It is, at its core, a pact of reconstruction, not reconciliation: Egypt, Türkiye and Qatar will be in charge of the funds and the United States of the story. Vice President JD Vance has already made it clear that “the good friends of the Persian Gulf will be involved with most of the money.”
From Washington, Joe Biden congratulated Trump “for his work to achieve the renewal of the ceasefire” and celebrated that “the civilians of Gaza will finally have the opportunity to rebuild their lives.” Nor did he mention the Palestinian state. The European Union did: “There will be no lasting peace without the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” recalled a spokesperson in Brussels.
The US document ensures that it seeks “a comprehensive vision of peace, security and shared prosperity in the region, based on the principles of mutual respect and common destiny.” But the deliberate absence of the word Palestine makes it the opposite of what it proclaims: a peace without politics, a coexistence without recognition.
