LOS ANGELES.–Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire deal in Doha, Qatar today, ending for the time being the war that Hamas claims killed 46,000 Palestinians, largely women and children. War broke out Oct. 7, 2023 the day Hamas sent assassins to a teenage Negev Desert music festival and neighboring Kibbutzes, massacring 1,200 Israelis, taking another 250 hostages. If Israel gets 50% of its hostages alive they’ll be lucky because no one other than Hamas knows for sure who’s still left alive. Whatever agreement was reached in Doha, it’s not known whether it will stick with the 42-day time table to release the remaining Israeli hostages and complete a prisoner exchange with Palestinians in Israeli jails. Many of the details remain unclear as Palestinians in Gaza celebrated what might start as a return to normal life. Hamas still hasn’t given up on its mission to destroy the Jewish State.
President-elected Donald Trump told Hamas that if the hostages weren’t released by his Inauguration Day, there would be hell to pay. No one knows whether Hamas will make good on the agreement to release the remaining hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Hamas wants the release of 65-year-old Marwan Baghouti who they would like to see lead the Gaza Strip in the future. Israel has not yet said whether or not Barghouti will be among the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel under the current deal. President Joe Biden, 82, five days from leaving office, claimed all the credit, when Trump was the one who warned Hamas about releasing the hostages. Whoever’s responsible for the long-awaited deal, Palestinians celebrated the prospects of returning to normal life. What the deal says about continued Hamas rule in Gaza is anyone’s guess.
No one has said a thing about Hamas retaining power in Gaza, with much of its senior leadership killed by Israel in the last year. If Israel releases Barghouti from prison, it could be a game changer, with Barghouti taking over the Palestine Authority and agreeing to annex the Gaza Strip, getting an exile agreement for remaining Hamas figures. Barghouti has a popular appeal to Palestinians looking to find peace with Israel. It would only make sense for Abbas to retire and let Barghouti run the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, then to unify Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Hamas seized the Gaza Strip by force from the PA in 2007 and his looted the seaside territory for the last 20 years making millionaires and billionaires out of Hamas leaders like the late Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal, both residing in Doha until Israel killed Haniyeh July 31, 2024 in Tehran.
Hamas cannot return to power in Gaza for its grand larceny of resources largely coming from oil-rich Gulf Arab States. None of the Gulf Arab States want to entrust Hamas with any more cash knowing the history of Hamas officials getting rich off Gaza donor cash. If Barghouti gets out of Israeli jail, it could change the landscape but only if he denounces violence and agrees to make peace with Israel. Whatever happens with the latest ceasefire deal, Hamas cannot be allowed to rearm or reestablish control over the Gaza Strip. Hamas wants to hang onto Gaza knowing that the reconstruction cash would flow in buckets, once Gaza has a new interim government to control reconstruction funds. Barghouti would not be acceptable to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unless he denounces violence and agrees to make peace with Israel. Without that, Barghouti remains in jail.
Netanyahu’s war with Hamas went against the Biden White House where they did everything possible to stop Israel from going into the Rafah region of southern Gaza. Biden threatened to cut off Israel funding, prompting Israel-bashers in the Democrat Party to demand the White House crack down on Israel. Under Trump, things will be different, with Trump deferring to Netanyahu from Day One. Biden couldn’t get beyond his old approaches toward Israel with U.S. officials hammering Israel to swap land for peace. President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29, 2024, often took the Palestinian side, writing a book in 1987 accusing Israel of running an apartheid state. Carter’s carrot-and-stick approach to Israel rubbed off on Biden who couldn’t get beyond his pre-Sept. 11 mindset. Trump has no illusions about Palestinian terror groups, much like former President George W. Bush.
No one should hold their breath that the current ceasefire deal will not fall apart. Once Hamas realizes that they’re not welcome to run the Gaza Strip, they could renege on returning what’s left of the hostages, some of whom American citizens. Of the 250 hostages taken Oct. 7, 2023, about 100 have been returned but no one knows how many are actually still alive. Israel has said for the record that Hamas Ministry of Health grossly exaggerates the amount of Palestinians killed since Oct. 7, 2023. When the Ministry of Health says that mostly women and children have been killed, it sounds contrived, largely to create bad publicity for Israel. If any ceasefire lasts with current Hamas leadership is anyone’s guess. Like most agreements with terror groups, the devil is in the details. Whether Israel can accept the many twisted conditions imposed by Hamas, time will tell.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
