The stage is being set for yet another high-profile Middle East handshake, and that could be a significant one. US President Donald Trump has just indicated that he expects a substantial expansion of the Abraham Accords by December 2025. These accords were a deal of normalization between Israel and several Arab states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, brokered by the United States in 2020.

His primary goal is to bring Saudi Arabia, the region’s heavyweight, into the fold. However, the question remains: will another round of normalization finally deliver justice to Palestinians, or bury their cause under diplomatic theatrics?

A New Chapter in an Old Script

Trump’s remarks at a campaign event this October came with quite confidence. “I think Saudi Arabia will join soon,” he said. “And when Saudi joins, everyone joins.” His prediction echoes the triumphalism of 2020, when the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords led the UAE and Bahrain to recognize Israel, followed by Morocco and Sudan. Washington called it a “new era of peace.” However, for Palestinians, it marked yet another sidelining of their struggle.

When it comes to Saudi Arabia, it has long positioned itself as the guardian of Muslim interests in Jerusalem. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has signaled openness to normalization, but only if it comes with what he calls a “credible path” to Palestinian statehood. Riyadh’s diplomats repeat that line in every forum, but the details remain elusive. Will Saudi Arabia really demand binding steps toward ending occupation, or settle for economic incentives and U.S. defense guarantees?

The Cost of Recognition Without Rights

When the Abraham Accords were first signed, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were already expanding at a record pace. Gaza remained blockaded by land, air, and sea. Yet none of the normalization signatories demanded measurable progress on Palestinian sovereignty. Instead, trade deals, arms contracts, and security partnerships flourished. Israel gained legitimacy without reform, while Palestinians gained little beyond rhetorical sympathy.

That imbalance is what makes Trump’s new push alarming to many in the region. The Gaza genocide has laid bare the moral bankruptcy of a peace process that ignores Palestinian suffering. To speak of “peace” while Gaza starves and the West Bank land is annexed is to misuse the word entirely.

What Saudi Arabia Could Get in Return?

For Saudi Arabia, normalization with Israel comes with a tempting list of rewards. It could include a U.S.-Saudi defense pact, advanced weapons systems, and civilian nuclear cooperation. These incentives could strengthen MBS’s global standing and accelerate his Vision 2030 ambitions. Yet the domestic and regional risks are profound. Saudi public opinion, according to Arab Barometer surveys, remains firmly opposed to any deal that abandons Palestinian statehood. Even among Gulf allies, the optics of aligning with Israel during Gaza’s devastation are politically explosive.

It is undoubtedly clear that if Riyadh proceeds without clear concessions for Palestinians, it risks forfeiting its moral authority across the Muslim world. On the other hand, demanding real steps, such as halting settlement expansion, lifting the Gaza blockade, or recognizing East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, would likely stall talks indefinitely. Either way, Trump’s indication looks more like political theater than a realistic roadmap.

Trump’s Calculations

For Trump, the Abraham Accords were the centerpiece of his foreign policy legacy. Reviving them now serves his campaign narrative: the dealmaker who could deliver “peace in the Middle East” while securing American interests. However, this approach once again treats Palestine as a side issue, a problem to be managed, not resolved. The White House’s language of “prosperity” and “stability” continues to mask the reality of occupation, displacement, and collective punishment.

The United States still provides Israel with $3.8 billion in annual military aid and routinely shields it from UN accountability measures. As long as this dynamic persists, any U.S.-brokered normalization will remain inherently unequal and only a peace built on power, not justice.

Regional Dominoes and Diplomatic Illusions

If Saudi Arabia joins, analysts expect smaller Muslim-majority nations, including possibly Oman, Indonesia, or even Malaysia, to face renewed U.S. pressure to follow suit. The logic remains simple as the bigger the coalition, the more isolated Palestine becomes. Each new handshake, each photo-op in front of flags, makes Israel’s occupation appear more “normalized” on the world stage.

Yet, the Arab street tells a different story. From Amman to Kuala Lumpur, protests against Gaza’s siege have reignited solidarity with Palestinians. Even in countries that signed the Accords, public anger has grown. Leaders may sign deals, but the people remember, and hunger for justice still runs deeper than political convenience.

The danger of Trump’s December timeline is that it reframes normalization as progress, even as conditions in Gaza worsen. The UN reports that 93% of Gazans face food insecurity, while thousands remain displaced amid rubble and disease. To speak of diplomatic expansion while famine spreads is not peacemaking but another way of distraction.

True peace cannot emerge from transactional diplomacy. It demands accountability for war crimes, recognition of Palestinian sovereignty, and the dismantling of apartheid structures that define life under occupation. Until those principles guide policy, every new accord will be just another headline masking a humanitarian tragedy.

A Question of Conscience

What kind of peace are we expanding when it rewards power and punishes the powerless? The real peace demands the restoration of peace and equality, and not dominance. Saudi Arabia’s decision and inclination will shape more than its own foreign policy. It will be a defining moment of whether the Arab world chooses moral leadership or political expedience.

For Gaza, the answer cannot come soon enough. The people who have endured war, hunger, and isolation deserve more than photo opportunities and vague promises. They too deserve a peace that finally includes them!

Bread should never be a battlefield, yet in Gaza, parents count the hours between air raids and the next bite, trading sleep for a place in a bread line. This is not misfortune but an outcome of the ongoing genocide. Famine has been confirmed in Gaza after months of siege and bombardment. Moreover, the pattern of atrocities by Israel is tragically quite clear: cut the crossings, choke the fuel, bomb the roads, and the entire food system.

Famine in Gaza

On 22 August 2025, the IPC Famine Review Committee confirmed Famine (IPC Phase 5) in Gaza, warning that conditions could spread south without a sustained surge in aid and safety. The famine is not a metaphor but a technical threshold that means households cannot access enough calories or care to survive without immediate, large-scale relief.

Starvation in a place rarely makes a headline, but it is clearly shown in logistics spreadsheets and cratered roads. It can also be felt in the silence of dead ovens and empty tanks.

As per the UN agencies’ estimate, around five hundred to six hundred trucks per day are the minimum to cover basic needs. However, many days in many areas of Gaza fall far short, as a trickle cannot feed two million people. Moreover, there is an increasing fuel scarcity that is killing the cold chain. With electricity unreliable and fuel scarce, bakeries stop, fridges fail, and water systems sputter. In modern times, the families living in besieged Gaza burn scrap wood to boil lentils.

The movement has also been made quite dangerous as roads are continuously bombarded. Moreover, checkpoints and shelling make a bag of flour a life-or-death decision. Food trucks cannot reliably reach warehouses, and people cannot safely reach distribution points.

Food systems are completely dismantled by Israel as fields and greenhouses are destroyed completely or made inaccessible. Fishing is also crippled, and markets and warehouses are devastated or empty. Even when aid enters, the last-mile network is broken.

The Reality of the Human Toll

Hunger creeps, then crashes. UNICEF’s August screenings found roughly 1 out of 5 children in Gaza City acutely malnourished. This pace is increasing day by day. Children are starving, and they fail to gain adequate weight. Moreover, breastfeeding falters when mothers are undernourished, too. In these conditions, water-borne diseases spread faster in bodies that are already depleted.

Mothers stretch tea and bread into a “meal,” or simply skip eating altogether, so toddlers can share a biscuit. Children, on the other hand, stand in bread lines, and schools that became shelters have no kitchens or fuel. Diabetics and dialysis patients, who need predictable food and water, see their survival routines collapse greatly.

Every siege writes a cruel equation, such as calories in versus calories needed. In Gaza, the inputs have been deliberately depressed. Rations that do arrive are often calorie-inadequate for a displaced population; staples that require long boiling are useless without fuel and clean water. High-energy biscuits keep people alive for days, not months.

International Law and the Line That Was Crossed

International humanitarian law prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and requires the rapid, unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief. Human Rights Watch has documented how policies that block water, food, fuel, and safe access amount to using starvation as a weapon, a war crime. Whether by design or through reckless disregard for known consequences, the effect is the same: families are deprived of what they need to live.

What Relief Looks Like in Practice

Ending a heinous famine like this one is not a photo-op at a crossing. Completely ending it is about volume, tempo, and safety. Firstly, you should scale the pipeline to a figure of around five hundred to six hundred trucks per day minimum. Fuel should be reconsidered as a humanitarian commodity, including water and health facilities. For example, prices for cooking gas spiked by 4000% in early 2025 compared to pre-war levels. Therefore, families cannot cook even when they get food.

The mass starvation that is fueled by Israeli atrocities is a clear example of human rights violations. Now, the world must act with a renewed spirit before it is too late. Firstly, a permanent ceasefire is the need of the hour. Protection of civilians is also an important step to be taken.

Then, the perpetrators should face the international criminal organizations, as there are numerous cases to be faced, including one on genocide. Unconditional humanitarian access should be on the agenda. UN Resolutions should be followed in true letter and spirit. Moreover, there must be legal accountability as well as sustained funding to make the people of Gaza breathe again.

Bottom Line

Gaza’s hunger crisis is not a side story but actually “the story.” As long as aid is throttled, fuel is scarce, and farms, bakeries, and boats are broke, famine will spread quickly. The metrics may shift week to week, but the moral calculus doesn’t. Bread should not be contraband. Ending the siege on food, in policy and practice, is the minimum standard of humanity!

Ambulance sirens shouldn’t have to race aid trucks, yet in Gaza, convoys that carry flour, water, and baby formula move like fugitives. These are picked apart by Israel’s atrocities, pinned down by gunfire, and sometimes, struck outright. When the lifeline is attacked, it is not the cargo that is lost but the promise that they are protecting the lives of the oppressed.

A Pattern, Not Just a Series of Accidents

We are long past the language of “tragic mistakes.” The record now shows a pattern: convoys delayed until crowds gather, routes publicly deconflicted and still hit, warehouses bombed, drivers and security volunteers shot at the curb. Each incident ripples outward, NGOs suspend operations, crossings tighten, and hunger grows.

If we look at the ground, there is a completely devastating picture. Trucks crawl through checkpoints and bomb-scarred roads while drones buzz overhead. Crowds surge around the first visible food in days while panic and live fire turn distribution points into trauma scenes. Moreover, routes agreed hours earlier suddenly become kill zones, and the next day, fewer trucks try again.

A Glimpse of Complete Humanitarian Blockade

The Convoy That Never Made It – World Food Programme

In July 2025, a World Food Programme convoy that had just cleared the last checkpoint north of the Zikim crossing drove into a crowd of starving innocents. However, the moment the aid appeared, the area came under intense fire with tanks, snipers, and small arms. Drivers of the convoy threw their bodies over the steering wheels and prayed the cargo would hold. Unfortunately, they made it back with bent fenders and shattered nerves. Ultimately, the food did not reach the families waiting for it.

When Aid Workers Became Targets – World Central Kitchen

The world learned the convoy jargon the night seven World Central Kitchen humanitarians were brutally killed by the Israeli soldiers. Their cars were marked, and the route had already been shared with the authorities. Three vehicles were struck in sequence. Ultimately, the charity suspended its operations, and a single brutal incident froze an entire artery of necessary meals. The message to every other driver was loud and clear: your vest is not a shield.

The People Who Guard the Lifeline

In August 2025, rights monitors catalogued a drumbeat of attacks on innocent Palestinians who escort and guard convoys. These were the men whose job is to keep order when food finally arrives. In multiple incidents across North Gaza and Deir al-Balah, dozens were killed and many more were wounded near the aid trucks they were to protect. Each funeral means one fewer pair of eyes and hands at the next distribution point and another long delay that pushes a hungry crowd to the brink.

Now, one thing is crystal clear – Israel is using every heinous means to block the necessary human rights. Aid is completely blocked in the Gaza Strip, and fuel is scarce. Moreover, roads are almost completely broken, and there is rubble everywhere. The genocide is getting intense day by day, even if there is no militant resistance.

Maritime Hope

When the roads became graves, some tried the sea route. The Global Sumud Flotilla, whichdocked in Tunisia to rest and reload, is a new effort to reach aid to the starving ones. However, two of its vessels were hit by incendiary devices within twenty-four hours. Fires licked their decks as crews scrambled with extinguishers. Moreover, one vessel was attacked by a drone. It was a warning sign by Israel that any flotilla that reached the Gaza Strip would be crushed. Although no one died, the message was the same as on land: keep away from Gaza’s hungry. Earlier flotilla attempts were intercepted in international waters. For crews who trained to haul sacks of rice, the new drills are for drones and flames.

International humanitarian law is not a menu of suggestions, but rather a clear voice that emphasizes the need to protect civilians. Humanitarian relief must be allowed and facilitated rapidly and without obstruction. Aid workers, drivers, and volunteers are not legitimate targets. When convoys are fired upon after routes are agreed, when deconflicted vehicles are hit in sequence, when local volunteers are shot at a distribution point, the rules aren’t being bent; they’re being completely broken.

Numbers cannot catch a mother’s whisper in a bread line. It is a cruel chapter of history to witness. Humanitarian staff are being killed at a rate unprecedented in recent conflicts. For instance, one UN agency has lost hundreds of its own. Countless names of aid convoys never arrived, and routes that only exist on paper—storage that burns, fuel that vanishes, and a queue that grows again the next morning.

Before it’s Too Late!

Safe corridors should be guaranteed, and aid must be allowed in each and every scenario. No law in this world allows the complete stoppage of food and water, and to use them as a weapon of war. UN resolutions and especially the latest UN General Assembly Resolution must be adhered to in true letter and spirit.

A truck loaded with flour is not a political statement but a promise that war will not swallow every last ordinary thing. When that truck is shot at or burned, the message to the civilians is brutal. Ultimately, aid under fire is not simply a violation of international law but a deliberate shredding of the only safety net left.