The governments of Middle Eastern states, including Israel, widely agree that it is in their national interest to flatter Donald Trump. Acting as if Trump will be in charge of an important governing board seems to be part of that.
This whole deal has Jared Kushner’s fingerprints all over it. Which is a good thing, because let’s face it, he’s the only semi-competent person in Trump’s orbit (not a high bar, but still).
I’m optimistic, for the first time in a long time. There are three things I want: to free the hostages, to end the fighting, and to get Netanyahu voted out of office, and this agreement can achieve all three of them. For that, I’m willing to give Trump a win.
Let’s see what Hamas does.
The same thing they always do: try to fuck this up so it doesn’t go through and then blame Israel.
The question is how everyone else reacts once they’ve done so.
Points 13, 14, and 15 are the real key here. They give other regional players as well as the US the means to actually address the problem of Gaza being governed by a terrorist organization by replacing it. Depriving a group like Hamas of the resources they need to survive by displacing them is the only way to permanently defeat them, as I’ve been saying since day 1 of this war. This proposal is the first time anyone has presented a viable alternative to the group displacing Hamas being the IDF and actually stepped up to do it. There’s certainly been tons of “It would be great if Group X or Group Y stepped up to run Gaza”, but it’s never been people from those groups actually saying “we are willing to do this”.
That said, listing out these points is easy. Can Trump actually round up the allies to do it?
That’s not what the actual 20 point plan says:
So if Hamas rejects the plan, Trump calls for Israel to implement the plan anyways anywhere Hamas doesn’t control and to turn more and more of Gaza over during that process.
I’ll be very pleasantly surprised if hamas agrees to release all the hostages in 72 hours. I’ll also be pleasantly surprised if in spite of non-compliance with the demand to release the hostages Israel agees to hand over parts of Gaza it’s currently occupying to anyone else.
Hope I’m wrong.
I will be surprised if any are still alive. For those who support hamas, think about this- they attacked isreal, not the other way around. Hamas committed horrible atrocities, and took hostages- who were then mistreated. The hostages were to exchange, on like a 100- 1 basis for Palestinian criminals in Israel prisons. Some of course were political prisoners, but most were terrorists.
Mind you, none of this excuses the excesses that crook Netanyahu has committed.
But we wouldnt be he here is hamas had not attacked Israel.
Yep. Mind you Netanyahu hasnt been very honest in his dealings either.
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Who’s that again?
Hamas attacked Israel, and then Israel has demolished most of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of civilians, and is still causing mass starvation.
I don’t blame Israel for responding with deadly force against Hamas, I blame them for demolishing most of Gaza, killing tens of thousands of civilians, and continuing to cause mass starvation of civilians.
…meanwhile, in Gaza, the daily IDF atrocities continue.
Here is footage of a Palestinian nurse being shot, reportedly by a quadcopter, in Nasser Hospital. Link shows graphic footage of the moment he was shot, bleeding out in the corridor, and footage of the doctors trying to save his life.
Since the renewed offensive last month four more hospitals have shut down: Al Rantisi Children’s Hospital, the Ophthalmic Hospital, the St. John Eye Hospital and Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics.
The remaining hospitals, including the eight remaining in Gaza City, are all overwhelmed.
The starvation deaths are now 453. 150 of them are children. A reminder that Netanyahu is under indictment by the International Criminal Court “for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare.” This was intentional, preventable, an atrocity, and a warcrime.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-starvation-deaths-reach-453-including-150-children-health-ministry/3703311
Israel are setting up a pretext to attack the peace flotilla once it gets close enough to Gaza. They’ve already attacked them multiple times both in international waters and in port. As part of their “dossier” of evidence, they’ve included a random photo of a cricled George Galloway for some reason.
The “peace deal” isn’t a peace deal at all. It’s an annexation plan. I wouldn’t blame the Palestinian people if they took it. Because they are facing annihilation if they don’t. But let’s not pretend that its anything other than a set-up for Trumps “Riviera” plan.
And there is gathering evidence that suggests the plan included significant changes from what was originally on the table.
As always with these “peace” offers and negotiations, Netanyahu & Co never approach it from a position of good faith. Just remember the last time Israel ended negotiations ended by trying to kill the negotiators. And the last ceasefire ended when Israel killed over 400 people in a single day, and they started a total siege that lasted months.
We can’t have short memories.
…this report from UNICEF spokesperson James Elder is just devastating. It doesn’t show anything graphic, but it does contain multiple children so I’ve spoiled it.
Elder has been in Gaza multiple times during this conflict. But I’ve never heard him this distressed. Multiple children: all shot by quadcopters, just the same as the nurse in the previous post.
That’s not true. This was nothing new. Israel had Gaza in a choke hold and there were constant clashes. Netanyahu needed a crisis to milk. He would have found one or created his own.
Yes, the constant “terrorists attack” then IDF reprisals are old hat nowadays. But the massive crisis in Gaza was brought on by that attack on October 2023.
Sure, it is possible there would have been some other big crisis, but my personal crystal ball keeps coming up with "Reply hazy, try again”.
That wasn’t a crisis. It was a war. Hamas came into being with the stated goal to eliminate Israel. While it’s true they changed the wording of their charter their actions reflect their original intent.
Hamas isn’t some disconnected group from Gaza. They came from, and were voted into office by the people of Gaza.
Their likely goal with the October attack was to draw other Muslim countries into the conflict in order to destroy Israel. It failed. It failed badly. Nobody wanted to join the fight and nobody wants their refugees.
Even if they accept the current ceasefire proposal it comes down to a society filled with groups similar to Hamas fighting for control.
Yes, it’s closer to a riot than war. Pearl Harbor was war, 911 was an attack and Oct 7 was a couple of low level attacks within a riot.
Certainly, one goal was to prevent peace treaties between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, like Saudi Arabia. That was a success. I believe their other goal was to poke Israel into over-reacting, and drive people away from support of Israel. In that, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They have turned almost every nation in the world against Israel, and open antisemitism is now common in places like Toronto. (I mean, they couldn’t have done that without a lot of cooperation from Israel, but boy oh boy did they get that.)
Oct 7 was against a small country so your comparisons are out of proportion.
None of them joined in the fight. None of them want the refugees.
It’s true that no one wants the refugees. But Saudi Arabia was on the verge of normalizing political ties with Israel. Hamas successfully squashed that. And now dozens of countries are recognizing Palestine as a nation, and backing away from Israel to various degrees. And antisemitism has blossomed almost everywhere. (Thanks, Israel.)
It’s true that Hamas couldn’t have done all that alone. They needed Israel to take the bait. But oh hell did they.
That attack may have been the most successful action Hamas has ever taken. (Recognizing that Hamas doesn’t give a shit about Palestinians dying, either. They just want to take down Israel.)
Israel’s genocidal reaction has destroyed, possibly forever, the bipartisan consensus in America that Israel should be favored over Palestinians. The next Democratic president will likely end military aid to Israel. Another massive success for Hamas.