With thousands of lives at stake, Donald Trump either refused to take no for an answer or completely misread a crucial moment during tense peace talks between Hamas and Israel. The situation appeared dire after Israel attempted to eliminate the Hamas leadership through an air strike during negotiations in Qatar.
However, the US President made an effort to calm Qatari officials by compelling Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize for violating Qatari airspace. Trump called Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and then handed the phone to the Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu reluctantly read from a prepared apology expressing regret for Israel’s violation of Qatari sovereignty with the missile strike that killed the son of Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.
The White House later released photos of a grim-faced Trump with the phone awkwardly placed on his lap. This meeting marked a turning point in the negotiations, as a repentant Netanyahu seemed to acknowledge a mistake.
A week later, Trump introduced his 20-point plan, which essentially demanded Hamas’s surrender. He stated the militant group had days to consider the proposal and issued a strong warning. “If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump wrote. “THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”
This was a bold move, and Hamas responded with a distinct “ok, but.” The terror group reaffirmed its willingness to release all hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and agreed to give up power only to other Palestinians. However, they insisted that other elements of Trump’s plan required further discussion and refused to agree to disarm, a key demand for Netanyahu.
Trump could have blamed Hamas for the failure to reach a ceasefire on Israel’s terms and proceeded with his threat of “all hell breaking loose.” Israel might have withdrawn from the talks and continued the destruction of the Gaza Strip until it was completely wiped out. But when the Hamas response arrived, Israel was largely closed for the Sabbath, and Trump seized his opportunity.
On his Truth Social site, he wrote: “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”
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Did Trump completely misread Hamas’s mixed response?
The White House refused to comment on the decision, but with peace in the balance, no one was in any mood to correct him. Not Hamas, who had avoided the ultimatum, nor Netanyahu, who would have been seen as tearing up the president’s deal. That night, Netanyahu said Israel was preparing for the implementation of the ‘first stage’ of Trump’s plan — the release of hostages — and was still committed to ending the war according to its own principles. It made no mention of the fact that Hamas had not accepted some of the key demands.
Trump simply interpreted Hamas’s very conditional response to his final proposal as a clear yes. Israelis and Palestinians alike celebrated after the deal was announced on Thursday night — the biggest step yet to end two years of war in which over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and to return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attacks that started it.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the ceasefire would come into effect within 24 hours of government approval of the deal. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza would be freed within 72 hours.
In an interview with Fox News host and ally Sean Hannity after announcing the agreement, President Trump said he hoped it would help improve Israel’s international standing. “I spoke to Bibi Netanyahu just a little while ago,” Trump told Hannity, using the Israeli prime minister’s nickname. “I said, ‘Israel cannot fight the world, Bibi.’ They can’t fight the world. And he understands that very well.”
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