On October 8, after two years of U.S.-Israeli genocidal slaughter of the Palestinian people in Gaza, the fascist American President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas1 had both agreed to phase one of his “Principles for Peace” plan in Gaza. This phase calls for an immediate ceasefire, the return of all remaining Israeli hostages, living and dead, and the release of some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners,2 the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the surging of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Trump posted on social media these were the first steps toward “a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” and declared “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” As we'll speak to more below, the fact that he counts himself among the "peacemakers," after fully backing and funding a genocide, would be laughable if it weren't so deadly.
Palestinians walk with their belongings along the coastal road toward Gaza City at the start of the ceasefire, Oct. 10, 2025 Photo: AP
Between the announcement and the official time the ceasefire was to go into effect, the Israeli army launched several deadly attacks including tanks firing on people along the coastal road as they began the journey home to Gaza City and engaging in sick acts of arson, burning down homes, pallets of food and a sewage treatment plant. Israeli soldiers posted images of this arson along with statements like "burning food so that it won’t reach the Gazans," “leaving a mark,” “a small souvenir,” and “good riddance.”
The ceasefire began mid-day on October 10.3 Food aid is due to resume by October 12-13,4 and the first hostages are scheduled to be returned on Monday, October 13, when Trump will be in Israel.
A “Peace” of Genocide and the Graveyard, Continuing Domination and Oppression
Yes, the bombs have stopped falling, but even if the ceasefire holds, Gaza now faces the “peace” of genocide and the graveyard, a “peace” based on continuing domination and oppression.
The homes and buildings of the entire Gaza strip have been turned to piles of rubble, filled with unexploded ordinances, the bodies of dead loved ones, and the soil poisoned by relentless bombing. There are no sanitation systems, no hospitals without significant destruction. There is no university left standing. Roads are shrouded in concrete dust. Israel destroyed 97 percent of tree crops, 95 percent of shrubs, 82 percent of annual crops—all gone; a barren landscape of gray, without greenery.
In the weeks before Trump’s announcement, Israel’s relentless mass bombardments in Gaza City—one of the oldest cities in the world—had driven over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes. Once it became clear that Israel was actually halting its murderous assault, some 500,000 Palestinians, a river of humanity, trekked north along Gaza’s coastal roadway back home to see if there was anything to be salvaged.
“Look at the scale of destruction, they've destroyed everything,” one Palestinian said.
The deepest pain and loss are found in the hearts and memories of millions of Palestinians. As Nagham Zbeedat writes in Haaretz:
One man wrote online: "And when the war ends, mother, who will return from those who have departed? Will my father and my siblings return? Will our home return? Will my leg grow again? Will my friends return to their seats?"…
Those in Gaza who survived will have to face these two years of loss — of tens of thousands of lives, of homes, jobs, education, and ambition. Thousands of children won't feel the comfort of a parent reassuring them that no bombs will fall tonight. …
This is not a story of two sides finally finding peace. It is a story of two peoples who will wake up tomorrow under two very different skies: one free to heal, the other trapped in the ruins.
Read/listen to this social media message from @BobAvakianOfficial.
Nazi Madman Trump Calls Himself a “Peacemaker”
Ask yourself this: If a man came into your neighborhood and killed one out of every 10 people who lived there, starved all the rest, and then said, “I’ll give you some food and let you live, if you do what I say from now on," would you give him a peace prize?
Hell no! But that’s what Trump has done and is doing. The U.S. has funded and supported Israel’s genocide against the 2.1 million Palestinians of Gaza from its October 7, 2023 beginning until now. Trump even outdid Joe Biden, who earned the nickname "Genocide Joe" because of his full backing of Israel.
Trump lifted Biden's hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, which it has used extensively to destroy apartment buildings, hospitals, water infrastructure, and other civilian targets. Trump ramped up weapons sales to Israel to at least $10.1 billion and in September promised another $6 billion.5 And in a sign of his sick depravity, Trump has threatened to push all the Palestinian people out of Gaza, turning it into a money making resort.
Calling a Halt… Only When Imperialist and Fascist Interests Threatened
Father mourns his three children killed by Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza, November 21, 2024 Photo: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana
Trump didn’t call for a halt to the mass slaughter when he found out that Israel had killed 20,000 children and that 1,029 were less than a year old. Or that 1,102 children had been disabled or lost limbs because of Israeli attacks. Or that more than 39,000 children had lost at least one parent, and some 17,000 of them had lost both. Or when hundreds of Palestinians died from forced starvation.
No! Trump only demanded a full halt to the slaughter when Israel’s actions really threatened the U.S. relationship with other regimes in the region, including Qatar where the U.S. has a large military base. Also, it seems that Israel's September 9 attack on Hamas on Qatari soil may have been “a bridge too far,” threatening other important U.S. interests.
Trump’s Plan: Advancing Imperialist Domination and Control—Not “Peace”
Making matters worse, the goal of the “peace” plan Trump came up with has nothing to do with ensuring peace, freedom and a bright future for the Palestinian victims of this genocide. It was designed, as we wrote last week, for the purpose of “Erasing Palestinian Rights, Locking in Israel’s Genocide, Deepening U.S. Domination and Plunder.” To maintain its hold on the situation, the U.S. has deployed 200 military personnel (already stationed in the region) to Israel to “monitor the Gaza ceasefire,” and make sure Trump’s plan is carried out.
This past week a group of 36 UN experts documented 15 different ways Trump’s plan violates international law, including by trampling on the Palestinian right to self-determination, and instead imposing U.S.-led foreign domination. It further separates the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank from each other, and does not subject Israel or the U.S. to any accountability for their towering crimes.6
The Future of Trump’s “Peace” Plan: Uncertain
Read/listen to this social media message from @BobAvakianOfficial.
Whether or not the genocidal slaughter in Gaza is finally over, and whether or not the ceasefire will hold remains to be seen.
Over the years, Israel has repeatedly lied about or sabotaged negotiations, and broken ceasefire agreements—most recently this past March.
Right now, even though Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Lebanon in November 2024, Israel has continued attacking on a near daily basis, killing 103 civilians since then. As recently as Saturday, Israel bombed southern Lebanon killing one person and injuring seven.
In addition, Israel is backing lynch-mobs of Israeli settlers who are terrorizing Palestinians in the West Bank—bulldozing ancient olive trees, burning people's homes, forcing Palestinians to leave and even murdering them.
It is uncertain if, after this first phase in Gaza, Israel will continue to go along with the Trump plan, which is already extremely lopsided in its favor. Phase two of Trump's plan involves negotiations about the governing of Gaza, the role of Hamas and other Palestinian forces, and Israel’s military withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel still controls 53 percent of Gaza, and its military is warning Gazans not to come near Israeli-controlled military zones. Netanyahu is still fighting to carry forward the genocide in one way or another. In an October 10 TV statement, he insisted that Hamas would be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized (even though this has not yet been fully agreed upon). “If this is achieved the easy way—so be it. If not—it will be achieved the hard way,” Netanyahu said. Hamas agreed to the deal “only when it felt that the sword was on its neck—and it is still on its neck,” Netanyahu threatened.7
The New York Times reports that “It is far from clear when, or under what conditions, Israel would finally agree to withdraw its forces from Gaza.” Nor is it clear what Israel will do after its hostages have been returned.
The last two years has witnessed one of the most towering crimes: a high-tech genocide livestreamed to the phones of the people of the world. This was carried out by the illegitimate apartheid state of Israel and fully backed, funded and supported by the U.S.
People around the world stood up to demand an end to the genocide, and Israel has been delegitimized in the eyes of the world. But we cannot afford to let a slow, silent genocide remain.
All people of conscience should be fighting for an end to the U.S.-Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people and an end to the siege on Gaza. And while we do so, lifting our sights to fight for a future worthy of the Palestinian people who have survived hell on earth, for the children who have continued to dance and play amidst the nightmare.
All eyes on Gaza!
This whole system is rotten and illegitimate. We need and we demand: a whole new way to live, a fundamentally different system!
Palestinian Journalist and Singer, Saleh Aljafarawi, Murdered
Just days after celebrating a ceasefire, Saleh Aljafarawi, the prominent Palestinian journalist, activist, and singer, was killed October 12 in Gaza City. He was 28 years old. He spent the last two years courageously documenting the U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza despite great personal risk.
He was targeted by Israel, receiving numerous threats from Israel. These kinds of threats preceded the assassination of many of the over 270 journalists murdered by Israel in Gaza during the past two years. He told Al Jazeera in January, “Honestly, I lived in fear for every second, especially after hearing what the Israeli occupation was saying about me. I was living life second to second, not knowing what the next second would bring.”
Saleh also wrote and produced a number of songs while covering the genocide.
What led to his murder is not fully clear, but he was shot and killed by members of an “armed militia” while covering clashes in Gaza City. The clash was between members of Hamas and a militia or gang which has opposed Hamas. We don't know if this specific gang was working with Israel, but we do know that Israel has been trying to fund various gangs throughout Gaza to replace Hamas' leadership and destabilize the area.
