Before the deadline of 10pm New Zealand time, 20 living Israeli hostages - who had been held for 2 years, who had been forced in some cases to dig their own graves, spend unknown lengths of time in tunnels underground, and go without much in the way of sustenance at times - were handed over by their captors back into the care of Israel, which is their home.
That is remarkable. Because, I mean, let's be honest about it - in the last two years, there were times where surely we started to believe that we'd seen the last of the survivors make it out.
Surely, we'd assumed most, if not all, of the remaining 20 would die in captivity in the years that we may have thought stretched ahead of us.
But look at what's happened, aid is now flowing back into Gaza, people are going back to their homes - whatever is left of it - and the shelling has stopped.
You would think this would be a moment to celebrate, right? The very thing that so many of us have been calling for for such a long time and increasingly in the last few months has happened. The fighting has stopped, the starvation has stopped.
But where is the celebration? I mean, don't you think it's remarkably muted today?
Now I realize a lot of that will be that there is some weariness, quite rightly, over whether this peace can hold because so many ceasefires have broken down in the past, and there are so many ways that this ceasefire can break down.
It could be a rocket fired in error, it could be Hamas still refusing to disarm, it could be anything.
But I do wonder if part of it is also because it's hard for some people to give credit to Donald Trump for the role that he played in this.
I mean, already there are opinion pieces that are writing him out of this historic moment and talking up the diplomatic efforts of others, particularly in the Middle East, and warning he will never get a Nobel Peace Prize for this, regardless of whether this peace holds.
But you can't ignore his role in this and you can't write him out of this. He was instrumental in a way that Biden never was.
And it was for various reasons, mainly because of his friendship with Benjamin Netanyahu - which Biden never had - but also because of his relationship with the Arab countries because of previous work in the region, in his first administration, like the Abraham Accords.
Now, let's be fair, it's always hard to give credit to people we dislike.
It's also very hard to give credit to people who are so capable of dishing out copious amounts of credit to themselves, like Donald Trump.
But Trump does deserve credit and he deserves a lot of it for getting the Gaza conflict to a point that it has never been before, which is that all the living hostages are out.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
8 comments:
Both The Donald and Bibi N are going to have to put all their wiles into overdrive to keep the ultraorthodox bloc in the Knesset on side. These guys regard the only rightful borders of Israel to be those of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea in their heyday (the Zionist doctrine espoused by Theodor Herzl in the late 19thC). I am personally more concerned about them than about Hamas with regard to the peace plan holding.
Ask old mate Mike Hosking how he feels about Trumps success? (Much laughter) He, alongside our corrupt MSM, has brainwashed their audience for years with anti Trump rhetoric. The dozy public is bewildered and confused and possibly questioning their own gullibility.
Yes, they could be a problem but much less so than any remaining presence of an armed Hamas who have shown today with their barbarous executions of their own people, what they are capable of. One must wonder whether it was a mistake to not allow Israel to finish the job using what ever means it has at its disposal. My guess is that these public killings are simply designed to provoke Israel into breaking the ceasefire agreement. Well see.
I am always amazed at how our (NZ) MSM have no idea of what has 'really' happened or kept happening since Oct 7th 2023.
If you "view" TVNZ/News @ 6.OOPM (or Stuff on TV3) for the former they have relied on BBC and obscure reporters who have filed video - but how many times has a NZ TV staffer accomplished the "voiceover". Of recent TVNZ has used a female "who has reported from the scene" - but can her stories be verified, or are they - NO TVNZ has "us" believe, what we "se, is what we get". Which leads to an assortment of concepts amid the NZ population. You only have to read written comments under articles on Gaza, in this website.
Me, I "am a fan" of the News Systems, one can access via YouTube. Oh and I lost interest in Trump, the moment he accused Zelensky of "starting the Ukraine vs Russia conflict".
Here is a question for readers, - "Where was The USofA when Russia invaded Crimea (2014) land that was part of Ukraine"?
Now Gaza - if one listened to overseas Media - you would have heard that any "peace deal" with Hamas was NOT going to work out, unless Iran (their control masters) agreed to such an act, not that Iran would, as it has intense loathing of Israel, and that hatred is also extended to the The USofA, which goes back to The Ayotollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Supreme Leader from 1979), when he returned from "exile" in France.
The American Hostages held, whilst Jimmy Carter was President, shows what the "intent" was then, now passed onto Hamas, with Israeli hostages, since 2023.
It has also been "alluded" to, that next time there will be NO hostages.
And since the "peace" deal has been in motion, Hamas, true to form have shown utter contempt for the "deal" and (also stated by overseas media) will NOT disarm (already seen via Video footage) and have "again" returned to manipulation and management of the "food service" into Gaza.
As to the president of the Palestinian Authority - seen (even by the people of Gaza) as being a 'weak-kneed' individual (who achieved that post [President] 20 years ago and has not achieved "anything" of substance for the people he 'leads' but has a substantial lifestyle, and that includes the [so called PLA] "duly elected" Govt.
Those media personalities, who have been close to the "war zone" have stated Hamas will once again "go to war with Israel", the end objective is to eliminate both the People & Country and return the Land to the Palestinian People. That is "The stated Agenda" of Hamas (by extension Iran) a task, "noted' by International Media they have not, nor will they, deviate from.
Oh an I - "would put money on the bar" that those who are the Men who form Hamas are from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) - why ??, if you watch any "Hamas" video of them, they are to well trained, have an athletic appearance to their demeanor, clean shaven and move with purpose, and obviously on "command", something only found in those trained in a military system.
Sorry President Trump, we wait the next phase, which might not be what you thought you had planned or would be implemented.
We should be grateful for small mercies. Hamas’ atrocities have shut Chloe and Ricardo up big time.
It is a necessary first step. We are all grateful for that but it does not make it 'a peace deal' but an exchange of prisoners. Hamas never agreed to some parts of Trump’s 20-point plan. Assuming Hamas disarms and Israel withdraws its forces (2 huge assumptions), how will security be maintained and who will govern Gaza? Nothing is sorted yet.
According to the Hamas Manifesto, their main aim is to eradicate Israel and dispossess the Jews from their ancestral homeland. By force, terror the many and various jihadists, some of whom are now well-embedded in the Western media, unis, education systems, libraries and political systems, will never diverge from their hatred of Jews, Israel and any institution that has any Jewish dimension. They do not want peace. They want your money, they want notoriety, they want Glorious death as a martyr, but peace? No. What would they do all day?
BV, your comment that you would fear the Israeli Right more than Hamas is naive and well...rather silly in the circumstances. I would base this on the track record of all the terrorists "events" and lives lost since and including 9/11. Not Jews slaughtering, exploding and massacring the innocents randomly. The Muslim agenda should concern us all. Israel has been left to do the heavy lifting o.b.o. everyone who cares about freedom.
For those crying "apartheid" into their collective banner headline, consider this. There are 400 mosques, in Israel, 73 in Jerusalem alone. Israeli Arabs can vote, work, worship, own businesses and attend school. There are Arab MPs.
Of the population in Israel of almost 10m, Arabs are (2,080,000, 21.1%) Other (non-Jewish, non-Arab) 554,000 (5.7%). If you want to live peacefully in Israel then you can. It is a democracy. Al Jazeera would have us believe their "News" but much is a propoganda tool. Thank you Heather, your article is an accurate portrayal of whats happening on the ground.
Anon 1258, there have been many reliable reports of thuggery and gangland-style murders carried out by Jewish settlers. This is the latest I came across:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/west-bank-settlers-israel-palestine-gaza-war-b2837462.html?lid=koyqmufu71vh&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_campaign=Palestine%20Action%20Ban%20Breaking%20Newsletter%2017-10-25&utm_term=IND_Breaking_Newsletter&empar=be604c936c645326247e2a1eeac507fbd90ad9f4aad617940895300912b613b1
Not that I had that in mind when voicing my concern about the ultraorthodox parties in the Knesset - I was thinking more of them in terms of sabotaging the peace deal.
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