WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of stalemate, Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas The people of Gaza rallied within days after a clever maneuver, or perhaps a misunderstanding by them. President Donald Trump Boxed two opponents.
In any case, October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel The situation has been resolved and the last 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, will be returned under an agreement announced Wednesday.
Big questions remain, including issues surrounding governance and governance. territorial reconstruction Much of it has been destroyed, as has whether Hamas disarms, a key Israeli demand that the militants have not yet publicly accepted.
But for now, the fighting appears to be on pause, as President Trump received a highly conditional “yes” answer to Hamas’s proposal at a key moment last week.
Israel’s attacks on US allies
In early September, a long-term ceasefire was negotiated, mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. I was stuck.
President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East I had left a few weeks ago.condemns Hamas. At that time, armed groups proposal accepted Arbitrators said it was nearly identical to what Israel had approved, but there was no public response from Israel or the United States.
Hamas remained steadfast in its position that it would only release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and the remaining hostages in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected these terms, stating that the war would end only with the surrender of Hamas and the return of all prisoners of war, and that Israel would maintain unrestricted security control over Gaza.
Explosions rocked Doha on September 9, sending plumes of smoke billowing over the steel and glass skyline of Qatar’s capital.
Israel had conducted an airstrike Hamas leaders and negotiators meet to consider the latest ceasefire proposal in Qatar, a close U.S. ally and mediator. The airstrike killed five junior Hamas members and one member of the Qatari security forces.
This infuriated Gulf Arab leaders and the White House. Trump immediately started doing damage control. trying to reassure Qatar.
The attack alarmed U.S. allies across the region, including countries such as Türkiye and Egypt, which have hosted Hamas political leaders. The war Trump swore to end is over. Risk of spiraling across the Middle East once again.
The attack united Gulf Cooperation Council countries in a way not seen since the council was formed in 1981 to counter post-revolutionary Iran.
The seven GCC states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, are reconsidering their previously relatively moderate stance on Israel, with some believing that Israel now poses a greater threat to regional security and stability than Iran, according to Arab diplomats familiar with the conversations at the last summit in Doha. They were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Such changes could have a significant impact on the Trump administration’s anti-Iran push, which relies heavily on responses from two major U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Qatar. And it may have been destined to undermine the signature diplomatic achievements of President Trump’s first term. Abraham AccordsBahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized diplomatic relations with Israel.
Two weeks after the Doha attack, President Trump met with the leaders of eight Arab and Islamic countries on the sidelines of the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, and emphasized the following points: Israel becomes increasingly isolated. the president said it was his “The most important meeting”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio He said Thursday that the meeting had seen the U.S. build a coalition supporting President Trump’s plan and that efforts had “redirected.”
Ceasefire plan and ultimatum
Trump announces His 20-point peace plan Less than a week later, during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s fourth administration, white house visit this year. President Trump also appeared to try to appease angry Qatari officials.
President Trump called Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani And I spoke to him before handing the phone to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Prime Minister read out an apology, expressing regret that Israel had violated Qatar’s sovereignty with the attack.
The White House later released a photo of a grim-looking President Trump with his cellphone awkwardly resting on his lap.
At a press conference in Washington after the September 29 meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he accepted President Trump’s plan.
Rubio said Trump’s negotiators then stepped up efforts to bring Hamas on board through intermediaries in Qatar and Egypt, while Trump held calls and meetings with world leaders.
us plan It calls on Hamas to release all remaining hostages within 72 hours of a ceasefire, relinquish power in Gaza, and disarm in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The plan essentially called for the surrender of Hamas. President Trump said he gave extremist groups a few days to reflect and issued a stern warning.
“If this last chance deal is not reached, hell like no one has ever seen will break out against Hamas,” President Trump wrote on social media last week. “In any case, there will be peace in the Middle East.”
Hours later, Hamas submitted its response ahead of schedule.
President Trump’s significant actions
Hamas released all the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and reiterated its intention to relinquish power to other Palestinians. But he said other elements of Trump’s plan require further negotiations, and nothing has been offered on Israel’s main demand for disarmament.
The answer was clearly, “Yes, but.”
The United States and Israel could have taken this as a “no” and blamed Hamas for not reaching a ceasefire on Israel’s terms. as they have in the past. Israel could have sworn: Proceed with the invasion of Gaza City Or even extend it.
But as the Hamas counterattack landed late Friday, Israel was largely shut down for the Sabbath. Trump was the first to react..
“Based on the statements issued by Hamas, I believe that Hamas is ready for a lasting peace. Israel must immediately stop its bombing of Gaza so that the hostages can be rescued safely and quickly!” he wrote on his Truth Social site.
U.S. officials declined to comment on Trump’s thoughts. Even if Netanyahu misread Hamas’s response, no one was willing to correct him, neither Hamas, which avoided the ultimatum, nor Netanyahu, who did not want to be seen as undermining the president’s deal.
In a brief statement that evening, Netanyahu said Israel was preparing to carry out the “first phase” of President Trump’s plan – the release of hostages – and remained committed to ending the war according to its own principles.
He did not mention the fact that Hamas had not accepted some key demands.
There was room for negotiation, and the international community, key Arab actors, and perhaps even Trump himself, were desperate to end a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destabilized the region.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar He said Thursday that he and many other Israeli officials were skeptical of Hamas’s highly conditional acceptance. But he said Trump’s decision to view this as a sign of momentum proved to be a “great” move.
Trump “not only seized the opportunity, he created the opportunity by saying, ‘Well, we’re positive. Let’s move from there.’ And in the end, it worked out,” Searle told Fox News.
In an interview with a FOX News host and ally. Sean Hannity After announcing the agreement, the president said he hoped it would help repair Israel’s international standing.
“I spoke to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu a while ago,” Trump told Hannity, using the Israeli prime minister’s nickname. “I said, ‘Israel can’t fight the world, Bibi.’ They can’t fight the world. And he understands that very well.”
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Krauss reported from Ottawa, Ontario.
