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For two years, the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have been the embodiment of the intense trauma the militants’ horrific October 7 2023 attack wrought on Israeli society. Some 250 people were seized and herded back to the strip, while 1,200 were killed. The hostages endured brutal conditions, kept deep in Hamas’s network of tunnels while Israel bombarded the territory. Some were tortured and starved, others executed, as the captives became the militants’ prime source of leverage in its negotiations with Israel.
Now the remaining 20 living hostages are finally set to be released, along with the corpses of another 28 who were either killed in the October 7 attack or died in captivity, as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. Assuming all goes as planned, it should be a cathartic moment for Israel, one of joy mixed with sorrow for those lost. It will also represent the most important foreign policy achievement of Trump’s tumultuous second term.
Just as significantly, the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas will bring relief to the more than 2mn desperate Gazans who have lived through daily bombardment, mass displacement and widespread starvation. The strip has been devastated, with Israel bombing much of it into a wasteland and killing more than 67,000 Gazans, according to Palestinian health officials.
Trump should be applauded for his push to end the catastrophe. He has belatedly succeeded in doing what he appeared unwilling to do: press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Hamas, to halt the war as part of his 20-point plan presented last month. Qatar, Egypt and Turkey also deserve credit for convincing Hamas to agree.
Yet the toughest hurdles are still to come if Trump is to secure the permanent, sustainable settlement for Gaza his plan promises.
Israel broke the last truce that secured the freedom of some hostages as Netanyahu and his far-right allies refused to commit to any moves to end the war or withdraw Israeli troops from the strip. It is crucial that Trump now stays the course and ensures the plan’s full implementation, including the phased Israeli pullout and the establishment of a credible new governance structure for Gaza that involves the Palestinians to ensure its legitimacy.
The US must also establish dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians and press for a “political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence”, as the plan states. That should mean Israel and the Palestinians working towards a two-state solution, the only viable option to end the protracted crisis by delivering security, peace and justice to both sides.
For all Trump’s mercurial behaviour and “America First” mantra, he has an opportunity to restore some of the US’s battered credibility with allies and the global south if he is the leader who brings the hostages home, puts a stop to the carnage in Gaza and lays the foundations for a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
His first-term promise to deliver the “deal of the century” failed. He sidelined the Palestinians and upended years of US policy with a string of pro-Israel moves. The 2020 Abraham Accords, under which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan agreed to normalise relations with Israel were welcomed, but were largely transactional and did little if anything to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The new momentum created by Trump’s recent push to end the war in Gaza underlines the unrivalled role the US can play in peace efforts. The president must now use his leverage responsibly and back his pledges to put a halt to the endless cycle of violence that has blighted the Middle East for too long. The release of the hostages is a momentous moment. It is only a first step towards peace.
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