Senior Israeli political officials say that the agreement to implement the first phase of President Trump’s peace plan marks a historic achievement — one of the main goals of the war Hamas launched on October 7, 2023.
They attribute the agreement to Israel’s sustained military pressure in Gaza and Trump’s diplomatic success in mobilizing an Arab-Islamic coalition to pressure Hamas.
The return of all Israeli hostages, living and dead, strips Hamas of its primary leverage over Israel. With hostages no longer a constraint, Israel can use its continued military presence in Gaza to push for Hamas’s disarmament.
Across the Arab world, commentators and intellectuals are increasingly labeling Hamas as reckless and responsible for the devastation in Gaza, calling it a self-inflicted “new Nakba.” The idea of Hamas’s defeat is spreading through Palestinian discourse, with Trump’s plan seen by some as the “last chance” for the Strip.