The Gaza War Is Closer Than Ever to Ending - but Trump's Deal Can Still Be Foiled
The president has been sounding hopeful about the chances of ending the war, but as the families of the hostages warned on Saturday, it is still too early for celebrations – there are political actors on both sides of the conflict who would be happy to play to prolong the fighting
The end of the war in Gaza is closer today than at any point since early March,
when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to break the previous Israel-Hamas cease-fire and renew the fighting. Seven months later, another cease-fire is now in effect, thanks to an overnight directive from U.S. President Donald Trump to stop the takeover of Gaza City and the aerial bombardments accompanying it.
On Saturday night, negotiation teams representing Israel, Hamas, Egypt and Qatar will meet in Cairo with a clear goal to seal the deal and put an end to the longest and most destructive war in Israel's history. Trump is dispatching his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to these talks.
The president has been sounding hopeful about the chances of ending the war, freeing the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and moving toward a long-term solution in Gaza, with his optimism growing after Hamas published a "yes, but" response to his plan Friday evening.
But as the families of the hostages warned on Saturday, it is still too early for celebrations. Until the last hostage returns home, the fighting in Gaza is officially over and the coastal enclave is "bombarded" with humanitarian aid, there is no room for complacency.
Trump badly wants this deal, as do a majority of Israelis and Palestinians who, after two nightmarish years, are tired of this war. But there are political actors on both sides of the conflict who would be happy to play spoiler and prolong the fighting. Trump's team should remember that the deal's opponents would be willing to do almost anything to foil it – as long as they can blame the other side for the failure.
Hamas, in its response to Trump, expressed a positive outlook on the general framework presented by the president, but also made clear that it doesn't accept all parts of the plan, and will demand negotiations over many of the details. It's ironic to speak of sub-groups of extremists inside a fanatic terror organization devoted to murder and destruction, but even within Hamas, some lean toward compromising to see the war end, and others insist on continuing to fight until the group's core demands are fully met.
For Netanyahu, the deal is a threat – it could easily lead to the collapse of his governing coalition and push Israel to early elections. The far-right parties in his coalition strongly oppose the agreement and are likely to bolt the government if it is approved.
No matter how much Netanyahu and his stooges in the Israeli and American media will try to spin this as the much-promised "total victory" for the Israeli far-right, the deal is a bitter disappointment. It takes off the table the dreams of Israeli settlements in Gaza and a mass expulsion of its population, and includes a hard-to-swallow release of almost 2000 Palestinian prisoners, among them at least 250 convicted terrorists sentenced to life behind bars. This will very likely be enough for Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to part ways with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu's only way out is to use the disagreements within Hamas, and the group's insistence on negotiating some of the details of Trump's plan, as a way to make the deal collapse – while blaming the other side. It would be premature to assess his chances of success with this strategy, but recent history offers a painful lesson – and a flashing warning sign.
Source : Haaretz
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https://archive.md/IBSXU
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