Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal may be more about profit than peace

US president Donald Trump is glowing.

And its not that fake orange tan. He's basking in his own sunshine. Fawned on by his fanclub of stooges - Pakistan which unashamedly behaved like a lovesick puppy, proudly admitting it nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace prize while Egypt bestowed the order of the Nile on Trump - the country's highest civilian honour.

What was meant to be a peace summit for Gaza in Egypt looked more like an awards ceremony for Trump - and he lapped it all up in typical Trump style, like a cat that ate the canary.

A triumphant Trump sealing the deal that no other American president could have ever achieved - peace in the Middle East.

But, is it really his to claim?

After two years of relentless, barbaric killings, starvation, decimation, a genocide unimaginable in this century, the Palestinians remained. Forget the years of occupation and suffering preceding this latest onslaught.

They refused to be banished to another country. They remained, steadfast in their pursuit of their land - broken physically but an unwavering strength in spirit to soldier on with nothing but dreams of their homeland - barren, destroyed and reduced to an apocalypse.

But theirs. And they would die defending it.

How else can one explain how a nation who live in a small strip one tenth the size of Cape Town, with no army, emerge undefeated against a powerful, sophisticated army like Israel, with its unmatched chemical warfare and unwavering American support?

How could a people without an army change the trajectory of a powerful, obsessive leader like Netanyahu who had the backing of an even more powerful leader like Trump?

It may be Trump's moment, but it can never be his victory.

He had no more get out jail cards left for Netanyahu. It was game over. Not because he couldn't go on, but there were no players left. And with that, he was beginning to feel isolated, left alone with the class bully and no other friends to play with. And Trump loves to play. Ask Elon Musk.

Credit for the game over and house of cards collapsing around Trump and Netanyahu goes to the wave of protests around the world and the resilience of the Palestinians. Unwavering, the protests did not die down as Israel hoped. It continued - bigger and with that, even more pressure on governments, which eventually swayed the pendulum against Israel. Even in Israel where calls persisted for an end to the war, for Netanyahu to go.

Netanyahu became increasingly isolated even amongst those he once counted as friends.

The European Union and its leaders began shifting their stance. The daily images of starving and bloodied children, the wailing cries of babies and women covered in dust were becoming too much to bear, to ignore. Israel was no longer fighting a war against Hamas. It was a genocide and the world refused to call it anything but that.

The tide began to turn.

Citizens demanded their governments act. Israel was fast becoming a global pariah and a friend nobody wanted. Netanyahu was the humpty humpty that nobody wanted to put together again. Not even Trump, prompting him to finally tell Netanyahu: 'you cant fight the world.' And that was it. The final reckoning. Game over.

Its a flashback to apartheid and its downfall. It wasn't thanks to a change of heart, or the realisation of the evils of apartheid. It was the international pressure and its impact. The final realisation that South Africa was no longer welcomed in the world. It was, like Israel, left isolated, alone and no friends internationally. Except for Israel. It was South Africa's greatest friend during apartheid rule. They shared common values. But South Africa, like Israel now, had no choice.

But what prompted Trump to act now?

To understand that, we need to scratch the surface of what makes Trump tick. And there's just one thing that he loves more than himself. A bit more. Its business deals - and with that, money. Lots of it. His recent trip to the Middle East reminded him of that. Arab leaders lavished him with deals worth trillions of dollars and gifts that teased of more to come, if he chose his friends wisely. A game of pick me.

That gift of a $400m Boeing aircraft from Qatar to Trump was just a small token of friendship. Talk of future deals together was the real treat. And Trump loves a good deal. The bigger the better.

It also explains his uncomfortable fury at a surprise Israel bombing of a building in Qatar where Hamas leaders were meeting earlier this year. It not only rained on Trump's parade but also muddied the waters of his friendship with Qatar - one he did not want to lose.

Trump has already said he wants to be part of the reconstruction of Gaza, predicted to cost $53 billion.

And with Egypt holding the cards to that, you can bet your last Kruger or bitcoin a Trump associated company will be part of those deals too.

This 'victory' in Gaza is a done business deal.

It can never be called a peace deal while Israel still controls 53% of Palestinian land and refuses to recognise Palestine as an independent, sovereign state.

Not once in his speech to the peace summit in Egypt did Trump mention this. Not once.

And that says it all.

* Zohra Teke is an independent contributor and freelance journalist. 

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

IOL Opinion