Letters to The Editor — January 20, 2026

Gaza’s newly announced peace plan, now dressed with promises of reconstruction and development, risks repeating a familiar western ritual. Iraq and Afghanistan were once presented with similar blueprints of renewal, backed by pedantic conferences and donor pledges. Yet, we are left with shattered institutions, dependent economies, and political vacuums that bred further conflict. Gaza cannot be rebuilt only on massive concrete while its burning angst of political captivity remains untouched. Regional fault lines, from Palestinian self determination to security guarantees for neighbours, are not technical obstacles but the core dispute. A hapless Gaza can at best help the Oval Office adorn itself with a Nobel.

R. Narayanan,

Navi Mumbai