Tag Archives: Gaza Peace Plan

I Don’t Think Everyone Is On The Same Page

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On Sunday, Breitbart posted an article about the quest for peace in Gaza.

The article reports:

Hamas leader Khaled Mashal declared that “the resistance and its weapons are our honor and glory” and that “the battle is not over,” boasting that rights are won “at the recruitment office, not the U.N. Security Council” — a declaration that directly contradicts President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and celebrates the October 7 “Al-Aqsa Flood” massacre as a turning point to push Israel off “our homeland” and the international stage.

I don’t believe you can make peace with people who celebrate the events of October 7.

The article notes:

Speaking Saturday by video to the “Pledge to Jerusalem” conference in Istanbul, the head of Hamas abroad used a keynote address carried on Al Jazeera to lay out an uncompromising roadmap that flatly rejects the core elements of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan — disarmament, an international stabilization force, and Hamas’s removal from power — even as the terror group moves toward Phase Two of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire it ostensibly accepted two months ago.

Notice that he was in Istanbul–not in Gaza. That seems to be the pattern of Hamas leadership–they stay away from the war zone.

The article also reports:

He urged the wider Islamic “ummah” to commit to “the liberation of Jerusalem as the banner and symbol of freeing Palestine,” including the “cleansing” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the “reclaiming” of Islamic and Christian holy sites, framing Gaza as the vanguard that launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” massacre in 2023 and “turned into the pride of the nation and the conscience of nations.”

In remarks highlighted by multiple Israeli outlets, Mashal explicitly rejected any “guardianship, mandate and re-occupation” over Gaza, the West Bank, or “all of Palestine,” insisting that Palestinians “need protection, not guardians” and that “the Palestinian is the one who governs himself and decides for himself.”

Unfortunately, I believe the only path to peace in Gaza has to include the end of Hamas and its leadership.

They Are Home!

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All of the living hostages who were taken on October 7, 2023, were returned to Israel today. I can’t imagine what their families are feeling.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Israel reclaimed its 20 living hostages early Monday after they spent more than two years in Hamas captivity, a triumphant moment that marked the first stage of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

Video footage showed some of the hostages speaking to their families from video calls in Gaza before being turned over to the Israel Defense Forces. The first seven were released to the IDF around 2 a.m. Eastern Time, with the remaining 13 living hostages joining them roughly two hours later. All of the living hostages arrived on Israeli soil by 5 a.m. Monday.

The article includes some beautiful pictures of family reunions.

The article notes:

The hostage release is part of a ceasefire deal that also requires Hamas to return the remains of deceased hostages, though it’s unclear exactly when that will happen. Israel released around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal’s initial phase and withdrew its military forces from around half the territory of Gaza.

Trump will leave Israel to attend a summit on the deal scheduled to take place in Egypt on Monday. It is there that world leaders are expected to discuss the peace plan’s subsequent stages, including Hamas’s disarmament and the formal end of the war. Questions remain on those details, but Trump expressed confidence that the ceasefire will hold.

“The war is over,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening. “We have a lot of verbal guarantees, and I don’t think they’re going to want to disappoint me.”

If I were Hamas, I would understand that as a threat.

The article concludes:

Trump made good on his promise to help bring the hostages home by issuing several strict deadlines to Hamas while fully backing Israel’s war operations in Gaza. The pressure campaign worked, squeezing the terror group and eroding its support among Arab nations, particularly the Hamas-friendly Qatar.

Israel’s government approved the deal at Netanyahu’s urging last week, and in discussions with negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Jewish state ensured that its military will remain in parts of Gaza to prevent terrorism and stop Hamas from rearming. The IDF will retain control of the territory along Gaza’s border with Egypt—a central pipeline for weapons—and other areas that include Hamas strongholds like Gaza City and Khan Younis, according to the Times of Israel.

Witkoff and Kushner addressed hundreds of thousands of Israelis at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. They praised the “heroism” of the IDF and the “exceptional” state of Israel. The crowd broke out in chants of “Thank you Kushner! Thank you Trump!”

This isn’t the end; it is only the beginning.