Tuesday, 30 September 2025.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) firmly rejects the so-called 20-point ceasefire plan announced by U.S. President Donald Trump as a solution to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Far from bringing peace, this plan is a blueprint for the foreign takeover of Gaza and the erasure of Palestinian sovereignty. It treats Palestinians not as a people with the right to self-determination, but as passive subjects to be managed, supervised, and rebuilt under the dictates of foreign powers.

It has already been established by the international community that what is taking place in Gaza is genocide. The International Court of Justice has explicitly called for Israel to retreat and to cease its murderous campaign against the Palestinian people, while the International Criminal Court has issued warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Defence. Furthermore, a growing number of countries across the world are recognising Palestine as a sovereign state, affirming the legitimacy of its people’s struggle for freedom and dignity. Trump’s plan must, therefore, be understood as a desperate attempt to divert attention from these global shifts, to normalise occupation, and to repackage domination under the guise of “peace.”

The proposal to establish a “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump himself and including Tony Blair is an insult to the Palestinian struggle and to all victims of imperialist wars. Tony Blair, a war criminal who played a leading role in the illegal invasion of Iraq and the deaths of hundreds of thousands, cannot possibly be trusted with guiding peace or reconstruction.

His presence exposes the true intent of the plan as not to end violence, but to entrench the same imperialist forces that have destabilised the Middle East for decades.

The scheme to install this technocratic committee in Gaza, backed by an International Stabilisation Force trained by the United States and coordinated with Israel and Egypt, is nothing less than occupation by another name. Trump’s plan openly places Gaza under external control, with Israel retaining the power to dictate timelines, security perimeters, and the conditions under which territory may be “handed over.” Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority is expected to undergo “reforms” before it can be trusted to govern. In other words, Palestinians are told that they cannot rule themselves until they meet conditions imposed by foreign powers, which is nothing more than a colonial arrangement.

Equally alarming is the demand for the total dismantling of Gaza’s armed resistance infrastructure without any redress for the underlying causes of resistance: occupation, dispossession, blockade, and statelessness. By criminalising Palestinian resistance while leaving Israel’s military supremacy unchallenged, the plan strips Palestinians of their right to defend themselves and ensures their permanent subjugation.

Another element of the plan is the economic framing which includes talk of special economic zones, reduced tariffs, redevelopment driven by foreign investment, and massive reconstruction funding. However, it has not been made clear who controls this development, who benefits, and what guarantees exist that Palestinians themselves will have decision-making power, access, and that wealth will not be extracted rather than shared.

There is no solid plan clarifying land restitution, or how the vast damage to homes, infrastructure, health and education systems will be repaired from below, in partnership with local communities. With no acknowledgment of occupied territory, no clear mechanism to stop expansion of settlements, no pathway to justice for war crimes, and no entrenchment of Palestinians’ rights under international law, this process is a mechanism for submission rather than peace.

In sum, this plan offers many superficial promises such as hostage release, aid flow, and reconstruction but when scrutinised in full context it is deeply imbalanced. It hands over control over Gaza’s political, security, economic, and social life to external oversight, while denying Palestinians the full rights and agency that must be the foundation of any just peace. It is simply designed to manage Gaza under new architecture, while limiting resistance, excluding Hamas, and bypassing popular legitimacy.

As a result, the EFF denounces this plan as a neocolonial project designed to pacify the oppressed while securing the interests of imperial powers and their allies in Israel. It offers no solid plan for the future of Gaza, nor any genuine path to an end of occupation. True peace will never come from schemes drafted in Washington or London. It will only come when the people of Palestine, in Gaza and beyond, are free to determine their own future, reclaim their land, and live with dignity and justice.

We call on all progressive forces across the world, particularly in Africa and the Global South, to reject Trump’s 20-point plan with the contempt it deserves. We stand firmly with the people of Palestine, and we will continue to support their just struggle for freedom, sovereignty, and the right of return.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581