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Sunday evening President Trump let at least the third deadline for Hamas to release all Israeli hostages, living and dead, without “all Hell breaking loose” and any U.S. constraints on Israeli action in Gaza were removed.
The President’s stated reason for this failure to make good on his deadline is that “progress” is being made through negotiations now taking place in Egypt.
In comments made to the media at a meeting with Canadian Prime Minster Mark Carney, President Trump said, "I think there's a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It’s something, even beyond the Gaza situation… We want a release of the hostages immediately… Literally every country in the world has supported the plan. I don't think there's anybody that hasn't actually, not that I've seen, but there's a real chance that we could do something."
The problem with the President’s optimistic assessment of the prospects for “peace” is that Hamas, his erstwhile negotiating partner, does not want peace and it is the one crucial participant that has not “supported the plan.”
The reality is Hamas rejected all preconditions to the deal but worded it in a way to make it sound like they're accepting it while demanding more negotiations.
Indeed, their representative in Iran, a country that has not “supported the plan” and actually pulls the strings of Hamas said: “We have defined our red lines, which are a ceasefire, complete withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza, opening of crossings, entry of humanitarian aid, and rehabilitation of the strip. After achieving these goals, we will move to political solutions and prisoner exchanges”
What’s more, as part of the negotiations for “peace” Hamas is demanding the release of those who led the attack that began the latest round in the war.
The UK’s Telegraph reported Hamas has demanded the release of captured terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre, sources have said.
The terror group has reportedly requested that “Nukhba fighters”, the elite special forces unit who led the massacre, be added to the list of currently imprisoned Palestinians slated for release in exchange for the Israeli hostages.
Israel has released hundreds of Palestinians under the previous two ceasefire deals, including senior terrorists serving life sentences and in every case they have immediately returned to roles in the terrorist organization.
So, what’s the bottom line for the waring parties who are now allegedly negotiating “peace”?
In an exclusive interview with Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill, senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk – a founding member of the movement and its first political bureau chief – outlined Hamas’s stance on Trump’s Gaza plan and the ongoing negotiations in Egypt. Speaking from decades of leadership within Hamas, Abu Marzouk stressed that the resistance group seeks a deal but will not “raise the white flag.”
Marzouk rejected Israeli calls to disarm, calling them an attempt to force surrender. “Frankly, statements of this kind are often rhetoric that does not reflect reality—rather, the purpose of them is to accept defeat in the battle. If you fought for two years against a resistance movement and still could not decisively end it, is it possible that you will get what you want at the negotiating table on this issue? If you have a pledge from a party that it will not use weapons, or that it is under a truce or a ceasefire, that should, without doubt, be more important than searching how many rifles Hamas has.”
Translation: Hamas is not negotiating a permanent “peace,” but merely a cessation of hostilities to regroup and reposition their forces for the next attack. And in this the hostages are what they’ve always been, human pawns or bargaining chips in a war that will never end until Hamas is utterly destroyed.
Two years ago, on October 6, 2023, Israel and Hamas were operating under a previous “peace deal,” which was broken in the bloody massacre of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
President Trump’s desire to be a peacemaker and to bring peace to the Middle East is Trump at his noblest and most humane. However, in a business “deal” both sides balance the economic benefits in an agreement to get at least some of what they want, but Hamas does not have business goals, it has war aims, the most important of which is the destruction of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people.
We hope President Trump is successful in getting the hostages – those few that remain alive – back to their families. However, it must be understood that this is war, not a business “deal,” and without the complete destruction of Hamas as a political and military entity, such a “deal” is not a peace agreement, it is merely a cessation of hostilities until Hamas decides to restart the war for the destruction of Israel.
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com and is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns. A member of American MENSA, he served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for former Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retired Rep. Mac Thornberry formerly a member of the House Intelligence Committee and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
- Israel-Hamas War
- Trump foreign policy
- Israeli hostages
- deadlines
- Middle East negotiations
- Trump administration
- Gaza Palestinians
- Iran
- Hamas preconditions
- Israel occupation
- Nukhba fighters
- Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk
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