Hosting Netanyahu, Trump Aims To Reshape the Mideast by Ending Gaza War Even as a Weakened Hamas Raises Difficult Demands

President Trump is aiming to reshape the Mideast along with Prime Minister Netanyahu by ending the Gaza war, gaining the release of all remaining hostages, and perhaps even using diplomacy to end the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. Will a significantly weakened Hamas and Tehran cooperate? At Monday’s White House dinner for his Israeli guest, the president will have an opportunity to “talk about Operation Midnight Hammer, which was incredibly successful, to talk about peace in Gaza and ending that conflict, as well as many other topics of discussion in relation to Israel and the United States,” the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters.Even as Hamas is at the lowest ebb of its two-decade rule of Gaza, its Doha-based top officials are raising difficult demands for releasing hostages. Israeli representatives are at the Qatari capital, and the president’s special representative, Steven Witkoff, will travel there later this week, Ms. Leavitt said. A proposal presented by Mr. Witkoff involves a 60-day cease-fire and the release of some of the 50 hostages remaining in the Strip, 20 of whom are presumed alive. According to the proposal, eight living hostages will be released on the first day and two others on the 60th day. Two-dozen bodies will also be released in increments. While Israel has accepted the deal, according to Ms. Leavitt, Hamas said over the weekend that it looks at it “positively,” as it expects further negotiations on details. The terror organization’s leadership in Qatar is demanding guarantees that the cease-fire will lead to a permanent end of the war. It also wants Israel to withdraw from strategic posts it holds in southern Gaza. Crucially, Hamas is also demanding that the Washington-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation be dismantled. The charity is attempting to supply food and other aid directly to Gazans while bypassing Hamas gunmen, who confiscate aid distributed by the United Nations and use it to maintain control over the Strip.In the last few weeks the Israel Defense Force has intensified its attacks in Gaza, killing members of Hamas’s chain of command and taking control of large swaths of the Strip. The terror organization is devastated. “They have nothing left,” a Palestinian watcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, tells the Sun. “Hamas has lost much of its governance in Gaza, and while it keeps issuing statements, much of it has little connection to events on the ground.”The de facto Hamas commander at Gaza, Iz al-Din al-Hadad, is but a shadow of his two predecessors, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last October, and his younger brother Mohammed, who was killed in May. The two were the top planners of the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities that launched the 20-month Gaza war. “Let’s be realistic here, there’s barely anything left of the security structure,” an unidentified Hamas lieutenant colonel told the BBC on Sunday. “Most of the leadership, about 95 percent, are now dead,” he added. “So really, what’s stopping Israel from continuing this war?”Then again, a similar question must be contemplated as well: What is the incentive for the remaining Gaza terrorists to release all of the hostages? While the IDF has captured most of Gaza’s territory and killed the military commanders there, it studiously refrains from attacking areas where it suspects hostages are held, Mr. Halevi says. Hamas’s Doha-based leadership is attempting to preserve the organization and allow it to rebuild in Gaza, claiming it would release all hostages if Israel ends the war. Mr. Netanyahu is yet to accept that condition. At the same time, Mr. Trump seems eager to end the war so he can make deals with Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia to make peace with Israel. The president is also seeking a “permanent deal with Iran” to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons, he said Sunday. Mr. Netanyahu, though, prefers assurances that Israel would be free to strike again if Iran attempts to restart its nuclear program. For that purpose, a bipartisan congressional bill proposes the sale to Israel of B-2 bombers and the bunker busters they carry. Like Hamas, Tehran is attempting to put a tough face on its recent losses. President Pezeshkian, who has no decision powers, told interviewer Tucker Carlson Sunday that Iran has “no problem” negotiating with Mr. Trump. Yet, he asks, “how are we going to trust the United States again?” Also, “how can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks, the Israeli regime will not be given permission again to attack us?”

Hosting Netanyahu, Trump Aims To Reshape the Mideast by Ending Gaza War Even as a Weakened Hamas Raises Difficult Demands

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