Trump and mediators sign the peace agreement in Gaza while world leaders including Carney attend the Egyptian summit

Example of “negative peace”

I’m Nahla Ayed, CBC broadcaster and producer ideas, who reported for many years from the Middle East.

Although Trump has declared a “golden age for the Middle East,” the deal he brokered is a classic example of negotiated “negative peace” – the absence of violence – without addressing any of the underlying issues.

In other words, while Trump’s deal ends just one horrific and painful episode of violence in the Middle East, the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.

The peace agreement did not address other symptoms of this decades-long conflict. They include the growing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a key part of the region where Palestinians hope to establish their own state.

Many of the world leaders attending today’s summit, including Carney, recently recognized Palestinian statehood, as did most countries in the world. The presence of these leaders at the peace summit indicates that they consider this deal a step towards this goal, and towards a more comprehensive, permanent peace between the Israelis and the Palestinian people as a whole.

But Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the United States has not moved to recognize it either.