What did Trump do to get the ceasefire?
Better luck next year, Donnie. Maybe it’ll help if you threaten to bomb Oslo.
I think a case could be made that the…uh… absence of trump from the world scene would definitely advance the cause of world peace. Heck, world peace, domestic peace, economic stability, immigrants’ rights, reconciliation of ancient enemies, reversal of hair loss, and regular bowel movements for all!
I found it ironic yesterday when I heard Trump, in one breath talking about how miraculous it was that he had instituted full and lasting peace, and in the next breath griping that he wished Israel would stop dropping bombs to make things easier.
Sure, a ceasefire was “in the works”, but this is like celebrating the touchdown before the first play of a drive is over.
Likewise, a “peace deal” that lasts a couple of days isn’t anything that people should get too excited about. Let’s see what everything looks like a year from now.
And after providing the weapons Netanyahu used to level Gaza and starve its people, Trump has apparently been a party to negotiating a conditional surrender by Hamas. Yay.
Information in an Al Jazeera article from yesterday:
It points out that while Hamas has at least been receptive to the idea of some kind of disarmament (in theory, so far), they are unlikely to completely give up all of their weapons. They might give up their missiles but hang onto other weapons out of fear of Israel taking advantage. The article also points out that while Hamas is the largest group in Gaza fighting Israel, it’s not the only one, and even if Hamas truly does stop its fighting that doesn’t guarantee peace in the area. It may just create a vacuum filled by someone else.
Ironically, there is a suggestion that Hamas should be used to protect people against other groups who often act like more like gangs than a military, and could be something of a peacekeeping force.
Many Palestinians in Gaza believe Hamas should preserve some military capabilities to stop these gangs from exploiting a possible power vacuum, Taghreed Khodary, an analyst on Israel-Palestine who is from Gaza, told Al Jazeera.
“Israel created gangs and gave them weapons and guns to kill their own people [in Gaza]. Now Israel wants to expel Hamas, but Hamas is needed to maintain internal security,” she said.
“Hamas is very good at providing security,” she stressed.
Of course, these are just ideas of what to do moving forward, assuming this deal actually works. There’s a possibility that the war will just continue if things break down, such as one side going back on its promises or being unsatisfied and starting the conflict again. And Hamas might be very resistant to keep peace if peacekeeping might too closely resemble suppression of other groups resisting Israeli abuses.
Hamas would be nuts to hand over weapons. Just sayin’.
Most likely scenario.
As a side note, after the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, it took years for [most of] the IRA to give up their weapons - and that was with a guaranteed political structure they could work peacefully within.
This might be an opportunity for a longer-term, maybe even lasting, settlement - if it isn’t approached with the expectation that there’ll be a quick, easy and photo-opped deal just waiting to be imposed.
Hamas could smile and hand over every weapon in the joint, down to their nail clippers, and be back in business by the following Friday.
Dan
Israel would be nuts to leave Hamas armed. Just sayin’.
And neither side is nuts.
Hamas is absolutely nuts, if not bananas. But they’re the wrong sort of nuts - the sort that thinks that not disarming is a good idea because if hostilities resume they have some kind of chance.
John Oliver’s show a few weeks ago about Netanyahu (bottom line: he’s an evil and corrupt m.f’er) made an extraordinary claim that I’d never heard before: he’s been funding Hamas. He likes to have a strong Hamas as a counterbalance to the Palestinian Authority, thereby dividing Palestinian loyalties.
That seems pretty sane to me.
I’ve seen that reported several times, albeit rather more nuanced than suggesting N funded the entire Hamas operation.
Since neither a representative from Israel nor Hamas were apparently present at the signing, I have to wonder which details they helped to iron out. I’m trying to be optimistic but don’t want to be naive.
Seriously. How can there be a peace summit without the warring principals?
Is this a “peace summit”? The negotiations happened previously and elsewhere and the agreement that was reached is already being carried out. This wasn’t a summit where world leaders meet up to sign a deal, this was a Trump photo op.
The hostages were all released, so yeah, he gets credit for that. Maybe this means a ceasefire for sometime,
Trump is a vulture. He swoops in after 2 years of carnage (that he and his predecessor abetted), Hamas is wiped out, 67000 civilians are dead, the entire country is reduced to rubble, and proposes terms that Hamas has no choice but to accept.