Between anticipation and suspicion: How Palestinians in Gaza view the Trump-Netanyahu meeting

As the Israeli army continues unrelenting bombing Gaza City and its suburbs, attention inside the besieged coastal enclave has shifted, albeit warily, to Washington, where US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are convening to finalise a 21-point plan to apparently end the two-year genocidal war.

For residents of Gaza, this meeting represents both a potential turning point but also another round of international manoeuvring that sidelines them.

While Trump speaks of a "historic peace" and Netanyahu seeks to frame the talks as a step toward regional stability, Palestinians in Gaza are left to watch from under bombardment, their lives suspended between anticipation and suspicion.

A future shaped abroad

In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Trump declared that negotiations on his plan are "in their final stages," emphasising that Arab countries "have been wonderful in their cooperation" and that Hamas has shown "willingness to engage through mediators."

Speaking to The New Arab, senior officials of Hamas confirmed that their movement has not received any official proposal from either Trump or mediators.

"However, we are ready to deal positively with any proposal that would end the war in Gaza," Hamas said in a press statement two days ago.

 Trump insisted the deal could lay the foundations for "the first opportunity for real peace in the region."

Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Netanyahu in New York to bridge gaps ahead of the Washington summit, which Trump described as "decisive."

On paper, the agreement includes a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal. But on the ground, Israeli strikes continued through Sunday night, with entire residential blocks in Gaza City reduced to rubble.

That contrast between diplomatic language abroad and the devastation inside Gaza fuels scepticism.

In al-Rimal neighbourhood in the centre of Gaza City, 48-year-old Mahmoud Shalabi sat beside the ruins of his destroyed home, listening to the news on a battered radio.

"They talk about ending the war, but the bombs don't stop. We live between empty statements. Will they rebuild our homes? Or is it just words for the cameras?" he told TNA.

Despite losing his house, Shalabi refuses to join the tens of thousands who fled south.

"What will I find there?" he asks, bitterly. "Only hunger and thirst. At least here, I stay with the rubble that is mine."

His words capture the mood in Gaza: a blend of resignation and suspicion as diplomats draft plans abroad and survival defines daily life inside the Strip.

Tony Blair and history repeating itself

Among the most controversial leaks surrounding the plan is the suggestion that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair may be appointed as interim governor of Gaza under an "International Transitional Authority."

The news has sparked outrage across the coastal enclave. Blair, remembered in the Arab world for backing the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is seen as a symbol of Western interventionism.

In Nuseirat refugee camp, 57-year-old Mohammed Awad scoffed at the idea. "Is it conceivable that Blair will rule us? The man who destroyed Iraq will now rebuild Gaza?" he asked.

"It feels like a return to the British Mandate, as if we are being handed back to guardianship. We do not want foreigners deciding our fate," he said.

Awad even drew a historical parallel: "It reminds me of Herbert Samuel becoming High Commissioner in 1920. History is repeating itself. Gaza is again under foreign oversight."

Despite such popular rejection, some Arab capitals reportedly see Blair as a figure who can mediate with Israel and the West, potentially accelerating reconstruction funds.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, the proposal has only deepened mistrust, as locals fear their voices will again be excluded from shaping their own future.

Cautious hopes and enduring suspicion

Among Palestinian analysts, views on the Trump-Netanyahu meeting diverge.

Ramallah-based political expert Esmat Mansour said an "optimistic scenario" could involve a ceasefire, prisoner releases, and the announcement of initial reconstruction mechanisms.

"If pressure continues on Israel and given the exhaustion it faces from a prolonged war, such an agreement is possible," Mansour told TNA.

Yet, he warned against being overly optimistic. Netanyahu has a history of using international negotiations to buy time. "He may return from Washington empty-handed, and that would mean this war continues indefinitely," Mansour further opined.

From Gaza, political researcher Tayseer Abed held a more sceptical tone. "The US plan has fundamental flaws," he told TNA. "There is no clear mechanism of implementation, no clarity about who will govern Gaza after the so-called International Council, and Israel insists on maintaining long-term military control. Such a plan cannot bring real peace."

Abed argued that Hamas and other factions will not concede to an arrangement that sidelines Palestinian decision-making.

"This is not just about ceasefires or aid. It is about sovereignty. Any proposal that ignores this will collapse," he said.

He also underlined the absence of binding international guarantees. "Washington may settle for announcing understandings to appease global opinion," he added. "But without guarantees on reconstruction, lifting the blockade, and Palestinian political rights, this plan is built to fail."

For ordinary Palestinians in Gaza, high politics feels remote.

In a classroom-turned-shelter in Gaza City, Umm Yazan, displaced from Shujaiya, put it bluntly: "We don't understand these plans. What we want is simple: stop the bombing, bring us back home, give us dignity. Who governs Gaza matters little if our children remain homeless."

"As bombs continue to fall," she added, "Gazans follow the Washington summit with suspicion rather than hope."

For them, she explained, no plan will matter unless the killing stops and reconstruction begins. Amid the ruins, survival, not politics, remains the only priority.

Her words underline a stark truth: while Trump and Netanyahu speak of peace, Gaza still bleeds, heavily.