J.E. Dyer
The Optimistic Conservative, Jan.27, 2025
“I’ve been expecting him to invoke the Abraham Accords in relation to the war in Gaza, because that’s his foundational commitment for U.S. policy in the Middle East.”
There’s no question President Trump disappointed a whole lot of people and lost a lot of momentum with some supporters when he appeared to knuckle under to a ceasefire-for-hostages plan as an operational interruption to the Gaza war. It can’t help looking Biden-like. It has the essential elements of what Biden had been incessantly pushing since the 10/7 attack: ceasefire for its own sake, which everyone expects Hamas to duly break, as always; negotiating with terrorists for hostages, which invariably produces wildly disproportionate personnel exchanges; grand, vague, and misdirected posturing on “solutions” for “peace” and who should be in charge of directing the world at ramming speed to a “Palestinian state.”
The last-minute ceasefire agreement may be called an agreement for the release of hostages, which was what Trump warned Hamas he wouldn’t stand for further shenanigans with. But it’s glaringly obvious it’s about a ceasefire, IDF withdrawal from tactical holding positions in Gaza, and Hamas driving around Gaza waving flags and proclaiming that it’s back, large and in charge.
It’s a rough time mentally, for most Israelis. A number of hostages have been released, but there are weeks to go before Hamas would be formally in arrears on its hostage releases, and as expected, Hamas is playing that to the hilt. Beside the missed deadlines for hostage lists (we just passed the second one), Hamas is reentering Gaza unhindered, and is taunting Israelis with grotesque little ceremonies – “certificates,” memorabilia, forced praises and niceties from the hostages, even swag bags – as the children of Israel are dribbled out to their loved ones. The pain of unresolved hope for the little Bibas boys and their family continues to be a torturous cliffhanger.
Meanwhile, for many, a disgusting feature of the melodrama is the credit Qatar is getting for having facilitated this travesty of what appears to be a denouement in the Gaza saga. That the credit is being accorded in soupy-sounding rhetoric from Trump’s envoy, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, who has had property interests with Qatar, just gives it all a tired, crass feeling. Qatar has been aligned with Iran for a long time now, has been a principal haven for the Muslim Brotherhood, and a chief patron of Hamas. Now its ruling house of Al-Thani is getting plaudits from an administration that came in warning Hamas for its life if it didn’t straighten up. …SOURCE