A Ceasefire in Gaza and Families Reunited

I write in the early morning hours of January 20th, 2025. Inauguration day. By this afternoon, Trump will again be President and in the process of sending out a purported one hundred executive orders he has ready to go. A lot of things may be different by the time I write to you next. But as I’ve said before, domestic politics are not my wheelhouse.

The largest topic on my mind is one near and dear to my heart: the ceasefire deal completed to secure the release of the 98 remaining hostages held by Hamas; and, if it holds, a deal to bring peace to Israel and Gaza. Already, three young women have been returned to their families: Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari. As Einat Wilf wrote yesterday, “And sometimes, for a sacred moment, all there is is the (re)union of mothers and daughters, parents and children.”

Four hundred and seventy days of war. As someone who has never experienced war I cannot even imagine. We who sleep soundly at night should count our blessings every single day we wake up to clear skies and loved ones at home. If this ceasefire deal holds, the Simchat Torah War of October 7th, 2023 has now ended.

There was no alternative but to bring the hostages home despite the concessions that were made. They could not be allowed to continue to suffer at the hands of monsters. And make no mistake: that is what Hamas is. What they’ve always been. The images and videos of the hostage transfer show beyond all doubt that ‘team Hamas’ is as brutal and violent as ever. They are not remorseful for their actions. They truly believe that by simply surviving they have “won”.

It doesn’t matter that their massive network of terror tunnels has been demolished and turned into isolated games of whack-a-terrorist. It doesn’t matter that they lost their most senior leadership in Sinwar and Haniyeh and others. They have not learned a single lesson: because they were not brought to the point of surrender. And so they will continue their crusade against the Jewish state in whatever capacities they still possess.

Now, my understanding is that as a condition of full, lasting peace to be implemented in the second phase of the deal Hamas must relinquish control of the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinian Authority, i.e. Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas. I really don’t know that Hamas will go quietly. Every indication we have ever had from Hamas is that they will do the exact opposite. But maybe…just maybe.

If Hamas still remains in power in Gaza, one thing is absolutely guaranteed: they will try for another October 7th as soon as they possibly can. They are publicly stating this. Fatah and Hamas may be quite similar ideologically, but Fatah is marginally preferable due to the fact that they are not actively trying to wage genocidal war against the Jewish state. They may be genocidal, but they’re not suicidal.

On that note, I would like to touch briefly on the concessions being given by Israel. I have already written an article on the tragedy of the Gilad Shalit hostage crisis. In order to understand anything about this current war, you need to know his story and specifically how his release was secured. Because ultimately, the goal of Hamas in taking any hostages at all on October 7th was to achieve exactly what they have been given: the guaranteed release of well over a thousand convicted terrorists currently sitting in Israeli prisons. I believe one of them was the murderer of Ari Fuld. There is a dear price that is being paid for this deal, and we may not know its full extent until many, many years from now.

There is much that is still uncertain. I don’t know for example who will take control of the Philadelphi corridor on the border with Egypt if or when Israel withdraws. I certainly wouldn’t trust Egypt to patrol it; they didn’t even prevent Hamas terror tunnels from accessing their own side of the border.

But I am hopeful regardless. I know that with the Trump administration there will be no more “soft touch” diplomacy; either feed Trump a carrot, or you will receive the stick. The Saudis are the most capable of exerting pressure on Trump and by extension Israel, so I really, really hope they are willing to come to the table in good faith to discuss the future of Gaza and the wider region. The expansion of the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia would be the most significant foreign policy achievement since…I don’t even know. An actual lasting peace in the Middle East? You all know I have my reservations about Trump, but if something like this can be done it will be a new day for humanity.

I don’t want to speculate on what-ifs when the entire administration is about to change. I will keep abreast of developments and do my best to keep you all informed. Until the next.

עם ישראל חי