With the proviso that, when it comes to Israel-hating Islamic terrorists, we never know if any promise will be kept….
…an agreement has been reached between Israel and hamas that would constitute an initial phase of ending the war hamas started two years ago…and has caused Gazans to pay a huge price for.
From Adrian Blomfield’s article in London’s Daily Telegraph, via msn.com:
Trump’s victory leaves Hamas facing a bleak future
At last a breakthrough – though as even Donald Trump conceded, these are but “the first steps”.
The significance of the moment should not be underplayed. Barring any unforeseen complications, there will be no Israeli hostages left in Gaza by early next week. Aid will be allowed into the shattered territory in meaningful quantities. The guns will fall silent.
No wonder they were dancing in the dead of night along Gaza’s rubble-strewn streets and on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. After two years and two days of appalling carnage, first in Israel’s kibbutzim and later across the length of Gaza, there is at last cause for genuine hope.
If all goes to plan, a major diplomatic accomplishment beckons for Mr Trump, who announced a deal was close in a moment of theatre when Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, passed him a note during a press conference. The achievement that may well surpass the Abraham Accords he helped broker in his first term. It is too late for him to win the Nobel Prize he so hankers for this year – the award’s recipient is announced on Friday morning – but he will surely demand recognition next year.
If this goes according to Trump’s/Netanyahu’s plan (talk about big “ifs”), all hostages, dead and alive, will all be returned to Israel and, in a future phase of the agreement, hamas will no longer rule Gaza. Thinking realistically, I’m not sure what more could be expected.
On a less important, but fascinating, note, I love that line about it being too late for Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Nah, orchestrating an end to the war between Rwanda and The Republic of Congo, orchestrating an end to the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, direct involvement in the drawing-down of hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran…and I’m probably forgetting one or two others…wasn’t enough.
I mean look at all the other world leaders who have done mor…….oh, wait.
Okay, bottom line: there is a definite start toward ending the Israel/Gaza conflict. Let’s hope it turns out a) to be real, and b) to be only the start of things.
