President Donald Trump is now pushing a 21-point plan for the end of the Israel-Hamas war, detailing new contingencies that are a huge departure from Trump’s recent desire to banish Hamas from Gaza. In that iteration, Trump saw Hamas gone, Gazans offered a voluntary move, with funds, to another country, and Gaza turned into a series of ocean front hotels, fine dining, and beautiful shopping malls.

Trump, with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, now envisions that Hamas will disarm and the top Hamas leaders will have immunity, which seems highly immoral.

The Palestinian Authority will have no authority for the foreseeable future and Gaza will be turned into an international trade zone.

Within two days of Hamas signing the agreement, all of the remaining hostages will be released and Israel will begin leaving Gaza, very slowly. The incredibly mismatched exchange will mean that hundreds of Arab prisoners, including more than 200 murderers, will get their freedom. A special international force will begin oversight of the region. One unique aspect of the agreement is that a program to de-radicalize the Gazan population will be instituted.

It is true that almost 90% of the Israeli population now wants the war to end. With the deeper incursion into Gaza, soldiers are dying on an almost daily basis.   To honor the dead, and to bring the depth of these sacrifices known, the IDF publicises a picture of each deceased with the name, age, unit, and city from which the soldier was from.  Most are between the ages of 18 to 24.  These photos are dispersed globally to those who have signed up for various Israeli special news alerts.

At the United Nations last week, just prior to this plan being announced, (but one speculates had to be known by Israeli top brass), Bibi Netanyahu stressed:

Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7th is like giving Al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11th.

This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it.

[snip] Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats.

It seems inhumane, inconceivable, and totally illogical that after the past two years of Hamas’s barbarity, Israel would countenance a Palestinian state, about one mile away from Jerusalem.

Netanyahu and Trump are meeting today. Perhaps the two have already agreed and the last concessions are being discussed.  However, any possible Israeli reticence is not paranoia. Regardless of safeguards planted all over Gaza, terrorist acts will assuredly occur.

During and after October 7, Gazans universally cheered. Their actions, even through hostage exchanges, were grotesque. It will take more than a generation, if it is even possible, for Arab de-radicalization. Judeo-Christians value life. Hamas is a death cult. In Gaza, if a member of Hamas kills an Israeli, the Gazan government gives the surviving family a pension for life and perhaps a house. When Arab male leaders are informed of a son’s death, they do not mourn, but celebrate.

Gaza’s death numbers of 65,000 are skewed significantly. Deaths come when Hamas fighters hunker down in schools and hospitals, and despite Israeli warnings about impending bombings, Hamas does not evacuate and protect their people. Also, deaths are a byproduct of Hamas fighters stealing tons upon tons of provisions that Israel has poured into Gaza daily. In many instances, Hamas terrorists have even killed their own civilians trying to get food.

Comprehend that.

Israel’s dilemma is of course, that it wants peace. But after almost 80 years of fighting attacks from various Arab countries, the idea that these guerilla assaults will cease is most unlikely.

The reasoning for Trump’s reversal is unknown. However one can conjecture that various Muslim countries, specifically Qatar, have been influencers.  

Will Trump cede any ground to Israel? Surely Judea and Samaria would be a logical concession for the impending peril this agreement will create. Will Hamas lay down their arms and sign the agreement? Will more Israelis die if the deal is broken?

One can only pray the outcome is not a Neville Chamberlain disaster.

Image from Grok.