Trump’s Nobel Prize claim based on contradictions

While continuing to wage an off-and-on war against Iran, Donald J Trump has staked his claim to the Nobel Peace Prize by touting his peace plan for Gaza. Although he cannot see that these policies are contradictory and could disqualify him, Trump has repeatedly complained that his predecessor Barack Obama won the prize. He was awarded for his efforts to “strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples, his vision for nuclear disarmament, and his work to create a new climate in international relations,” to quote the prize declaration.

Trump has failed to win the prize he covets although he falsely claims he has mediated as many as eight peace deals. These include disputes between Egypt and Ethiopia over the latter’s dam on tributaries of the Nile River and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda where that war has continued despite a peace agreement brokered by Trump. He also said he had prevented a war between Serbia and Kosovo over the latter’s 2022 declaration of independence although the conflict remains stalemated.

His “Board of Peace” Gaza plan calls for total disarmament of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in the strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory. Trump called the agreement “historic” and said it will be implemented in phases, with Israeli forces, which control 70 per cent of Gaza, withdrawing from the territory as Hamas disarmament proceeds.

While Trump’s allies argue the plan is an innovative approach designed to tackle complicated issues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal did not meet Israel’s demands, suggesting his government could obstruct implementation. However, Netanyahu knows full well it is not a good idea to cross Trump who is eager to see his plan implemented by both sides which must end all military operations “without delay.”

He refused to say which could come first, Hamas disarmament or Israeli withdrawal. The initiative has been criticized by civil rights activists who have spoke of it as an imperial diktat sidelining the United Nations.

Once Israel’s withdrawal has been completed and a timetable has been set, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), now based in Cairo, will enter the strip and assume responsibility for governance. NCAG would temporarily serve as an alternative to the Palestinian Authority which administers enclaves in the occupied West Bank. NCAG’s creation is a sop to Israel. It rejects linkage between Gaza and the West Bank which is recognised as a Palestinian state by the UN and 157 of its 193 member states plus the Vatican, representing 81 per cent of the international community. This is vehemently rejected by Israel which continues to exert political and economic pressures on 5.6 million Palestinians to force them to emigrate.

The plan calls for the elimination of Hamas’s smuggling tunnels, arms stockpiles and weapons production facilities, thereby removing remaining resistance infrastructure in Gaza. This is in line with Israeli demands for complete disarmament of Hamas, removal of its weapons from Gaza and complete demilitarisation of the strip as a precondition for any peace process.

Israel argues that the plan does not provide a “satisfactory response to these demands and has conveyed its objections” to Washington. Hamas official Ghazi Hamad had initially described the deal as a draft before conceding agreement. As Hamas is under international and popular Palestinian pressure, he had no choice but to accept. However, Hamad said, “We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the strip.” The Palestinians mistrust both the US and Israel due to their failure to carry out previous agreements.

Since the October 10th, 2025, US-mediated ceasefire, 2025, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians. Israel has also continued to restrict humanitarian aid from entering the strip and expanded its “Yellow Line” occupation zone from 53 to nearly 70 per cent. Experts argue this may violate the pre-existing ceasefire arrangement spelled out in the 20-point peace plan announced by Trump last year.

If the plan is implemented there would be no remaining resistance infrastructure in Gaza.

Hamas would have no governing or military role, either openly or covertly, following the example of Hezbollah in Lebanon. These two resistance groups have surrendered because they have failed to achieve liberation by armed action. However diminished and weakened by Israeli military campaigns which have devastated southern Lebanon and Gaza, both Hezbollah and Hamas remain actors and cannot be totally discounted.

As the world settles for condemnations and takes no real steps to exact costs for its actions, Israel has concluded it can do whatever it wants. Israel not only remains the regional military hegemon but also enjoys the full backing of its ally the United States. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1989, the US has become the global hyperpower. Until then, the USSR served as a brake on US designs for power and competed with Washington for influence. Under Trump, the US has tried to impose his agenda on the international scene although China has begun to flex its muscles. Powered by Chinese global trade dominance and technological advances, Beijing has used economic power to reshape world systems and challenge the traditional Western model.