Speaking before Trump — hours after the 20 remaining living hostages were released by Hamas — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was only slightly less triumphant, boasting that Trump’s plan “ends the war by achieving all our objectives.” “All of the prime minister’s objectives have now been achieved,” his spokeswoman had said three days earlier, as the ceasefire came into effect.
There is one problem, however.
No one seems to have informed Hamas that it has been defeated.
Trump’s 20-point plan, if fully implemented, would indeed spell an unmitigated victory for Israel and likely a fatal blow to any Hamas plans to rule Gaza in the foreseeable future. But it is nowhere near being fully implemented. Only two of the 20 clauses have been fully carried out, both of them concessions by Israel. It released thousands of Palestinian prisoners and gave up any potential plan to push Gazans to emigrate. (Read More)
