The war in Gaza was already over in January. Trump let it reopen and expand. A ceasefire is good—but it should have happened much earlier.
And it happens again, only because Trump wanted that last push for a Nobel Prize. As is his wont, Trump doubled down on demands to relocate Palestinians, which was met with widespread condemnation, demonstrating typical Trumpian historical ignorance in “Trump’s long-term vision” for the region in light of America First principles(sic).
The structure of the current agreement resembles the Biden plan, merely delayed as Trump made another cynical push for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
When Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in January 2025, on the last day of the Biden administration, President Joe Biden demanded credit. "This is the exact framework of the deal I proposed back in May. Exact," he said. Of course, that raises the question—if the deal was on the table earlier, why didn't Biden secure it then?
That ceasefire fell apart after only two months. Seven bloody months later, the Trump administration has finally brokered a new one. President Donald Trump, like Biden before him, wants the credit. "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!" he declared in his announcement of the ceasefire, waxing biblical. (Trump also, bizarrely, tried to credit his tariff policy for the truce.) But like Biden before him, Trump deserves scrutiny for the violence that dragged on when a deal was already on the table.
The basic formula has stayed the same. Israel and Hamas exchange hostages and prisoners. The Israeli army leaves Gaza, and a new Palestinian governing authority takes over from Hamas, which will have to disarm. Although the full details are not public yet (and may not even be finalized as of this morning), this ceasefire will be divided into phases, as the January one was. Each phase will be negotiated while the prior phase is ongoing.
www.yahoo.com/…
But there are elements of the plan, and of Mr. Trump’s long-term vision for the enclave, that Hamas has resisted in the past, and which may yet prove to be sticking points.
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Under the proposal, regional partners in the Middle East will ensure that Hamas complies with its obligations, and the United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary “International Stabilization Force” to immediately deploy in Gaza.
The stabilization force “will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field,” according to the plan. That force is to work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces.
Critically, the proposal states that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza and “will withdraw based on standards, milestones and time frames linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon.” Far-right members of Israel’s government have called for annexation of the enclave.
The proposal does not, however, guarantee the establishment of a Palestinian state. It says only that as Gaza redevelopment advances and the Palestinian Authority reform program is carried out, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”
www.nytimes.com/...
