AVIV TEL The structure of the ceasefire agreement that might end the war between Israel and Hamas has been on the table for eight months. Some people are angry about the delay, and now some are praising President-elect Donald Trump for helping to get it over the finish line.
In a statement Wednesday, President Joe Biden affirmed that the agreement was founded on the same parameters of a ceasefire plan that was unanimously approved by the UN Security Council in May 2024. He also acknowledged that the ceasefire was made possible by the efforts of important negotiators like Egypt and Qatar as well as intense pressure on Hamas.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Biden’s Middle East representative, Brett McGurk, worked together to secure the accord, but the president-elect tried to take most of the credit for it on Thursday.
In an interview on The Dan Bongino Show, Biden claimed that he had done nothing. The hostages would never be free if I didn’t take this action and if we didn’t intervene.
The agreement may soon put an end to more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, which started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israeli targets, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, according to Israeli estimates. This marked a significant escalation in a war that has raged for decades. Health officials in the enclave say that since then, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed around 46,500 Palestinians.
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In a phone call on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump directly for his participation in the negotiations, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office. According to the statement, he then thanked Biden in a different call.
According to Netanyahu spokesman David Mencer, Hamas was the one that had shifted its position since the agreement was first proposed in May. He stated in a phone message on Friday that the passing of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, who was confirmed dead by Israeli forces in October, had also contributed.
He claimed that what had changed was that Hamas had been severely damaged, with the majority of its leadership having been removed and their arsenal of weaponry destroyed.
“What really got us to this point was the isolating and weakening of Hamas,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby added in an interview with NBC’s TODAY on Thursday. He noted that in the past, Hamas had repeatedly raised barriers to the agreement and refused to engage in sincere negotiations.
Trump’s backing of the agreement had undoubtedly been beneficial, but he said, “We need to stop worrying about this whole credit business and who gets credit for what.”
While he did credit Trump with the achievement, Asher Kaufman, a professor of history and peace studies at Indiana’s University of Notre Dame, also pointed out that the negotiations’ progress coincided with the Middle East’s changing dynamics.
He added in a phone interview on Thursday that it is important to keep in mind that the world and the region have changed as a result of the collapse of Assad, the weakness of Iran, and the weakening of Hezbollah. This kind of setup is made possible by shifting dynamics.
However, because of his relationship with Netanyahu, he stated that he thought Trump was ultimately the game changer in a way.
Many in Israel attribute the breakthrough to the Trump effect.
Efrat Machikawa is one of them; her uncle Gadi Moses, who is 80 years old, is still in captivity. According to Machikawa, 56, on Friday, “I have to say the Trump effect is great, but I’m very grateful for the Biden administration for the very long period where they tried.”
Although her uncle is on the list of the 33 hostages anticipated to be freed in the first part of the ceasefire agreement, Machikawa, 56, added that she had not heard anything about him in months. “It was just awful not knowing his fate,” she said.
Trump was also praised by Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat was slain in Gaza after being held captive, as the decisive element that sealed the deal. “The only thing that has changed since May is that Carmel is dead and Trump is president, and now we have a deal,” Dickmann stated in an interview on Wednesday.
According to Palestinian estimates, the death toll in Gaza has increased by over 11,500 since May. However, experts have cautioned that the death toll is probably much higher than official figures indicate, and thousands more victims are thought to be buried beneath the debris.
Despite saying it was terrible that a truce only materialized eight months after it was first proposed, Israeli mediator Gershon Baskin, who has served as a mediator with Hamas for decades, congratulated Trump with the success.
Baskin, a regular opponent of Netanyahu’s government, said it was ridiculous that it had taken so long, citing the thousands of Palestinians and numerous hostages that had been killed in Gaza in the interim.
The seasoned negotiator, who over ten years ago helped arrange the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, noted that it was only truly accepted when Trump came along and pushed Netanyahu to do it.
The pact appeared to be on the verge of approval until Netanyahu’s staff accused Hamas of breaking a portion of the agreement, a claim the organization vehemently disputed.
But early on Friday morning, Nentanyahu’s office stated that he will first ask his security Cabinet and then his entire Cabinet for ratification of a settlement. The Supreme Court of Israel would then have twenty-four hours to allow an appeal.
The agreement may take effect as early as this Sunday, the day before Trump’s inauguration, if everything goes according to plan.
However, Baskin expressed his concern that the implementation of the three-phase ceasefire agreement in the upcoming months would be a challenging procedure.
According to him, the most important thing is that it must be put into effect immediately.