This is a historic time. The solemn moment. It is Friday October 10. “All the hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw its troops”announces Donald Trump from the White House. This agreement, which until now was in principle, takes the form of a document with signatures at the bottom, since the delegations met in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. “All parties will be treated as fairly as possible,” adds the president with his prose of great moments. It is a great day for the Arab-Muslim world, for Israel, for all surrounding nations and for the United States of America. » This announcement coincides almost two days with the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on southern Israel.
It was his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who came to slip the good news into Donald Trump’s ear, while the latter was in a meeting at the White House. He handed her a sheet of paper on which it was written: “Very close… You must approve a text for Truth Social (Trump’s social network, Editor’s note) to be the first to announce the deal. » At the same time, images from Sharm el-Sheikh appeared on social networks. The seaside resort on the Red Sea, whose nickname “City of Peace” is particularly appropriate in these times, was chosen by the Egyptian mediators to host the negotiations, the previous sessions having taken place in Cairo, the capital. In the images, we see the delegations rejoicing at the signing of the first phase of the agreement. Thus, the chief Israeli negotiator, Nitzan Alon, wears a big smile while shaking the hand of the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed ben Abderrahmane al-Thani. The head of the Hamas delegation, Khalil al-Hayya, was more discreet during the photo session. Neither Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man – from Ukraine to Gaza via Iran – nor his son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom were present in these latest negotiations, appear. Kushner having seen himself accused by the American press of wanting to steal the spotlight from the protagonists, he undoubtedly put himself in the background.
250 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life to be released
This joy of the negotiators actually reflects immense relief. Until the last minute, in fact, Hamas seemed to be dragging its feet. Until the other delegates finally told them: “Don’t let this chance pass you by. This is the best deal you can have. » To reassure them, they highlighted the fact that the guarantors of its application would not be the Americans alone, often accused of playing a double game with Israel, but Qatar, Egypt, and even Turkey. In this affair, Arab diplomacy is regaining color. Moreover, if the plan is successful, it is precisely because it moves away from the crazy “Riviera” projects mixed with expulsions of Palestinians from Gaza carried out at one time by Trump, to embrace all the complexity of the region, taking into account balances and reality. Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish negotiators not only discussed the Trump plan, they worked hard to develop it.
For Hamas, there is also the release of 1,950 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages, including at least 250 sentenced to life and 1,700 detained since the start of the conflict. The most famous Palestinian detainee, Marwan Barghouti, who is by far the most popular political figure in Palestinian opinion, will not be released by Israel, nor will the bodies of Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed be returned to Hamas. At the time of his departure last January, former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, very involved in negotiations under the Biden era, estimated that Hamas had already reconstituted its combatant potential from before October 7. There is no doubt that with the released prisoners, the strength of the organization will not diminish, which will inevitably make more difficult its disarmament planned in an upcoming phase of the plan, and for which Hamas has still not officially given its agreement.
The ceasefire will be signed on Thursday, at noon Egypt time
At the end of the Sharm el-Sheikh negotiations, we learned that Hamas, as well as the other militant factions present in Gaza, are committed to releasing all the hostages still alive in Gaza as of Saturday. An American official claims that it will be necessary to wait until Monday, 72 hours after approval of the agreement by the Israeli war cabinet, for this to happen. Things are therefore not yet completely clear, but liberation, at this stage, is only a matter of details. The Israeli army, for its part, must withdraw to positions decided by all the negotiators, and the exchange will take place immediately afterwards.
Trump “deserves the Nobel Prize”
Immediately, the terrorist organization published a press release confirming that the agreement provides for the end of the war in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the entry of humanitarian aid and an exchange of prisoners. He also says “appreciate highly” the efforts of mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, as well as those of President Trump, “to achieve a definitive end to the conflict”. Finally, the ceasefire, we learn, will be definitively signed on Thursday, at noon, Egypt time. An American official present during the negotiations then told journalists: “The war is over. » For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu greets “a great day” saying that he will convene his cabinet the next day to approve the agreement.
Donald Trump explains that he will undoubtedly visit Gaza once the conflict is over. A little earlier, he had planned to go to Egypt at the end of the week. We feel him bubbling with satisfaction. It will be announced on Sunday in Tel Aviv. It must be said that for him, the moment is special. If things go as planned, he will indeed have succeeded in resolving the most difficult conflict he has had to manage as a negotiator since the start of his second term. “We have settled seven wars. We are about to settle an eighth. And I think we will eventually resolve the Russian situation, which is horrible”he declared on Wednesday when someone asked him if he was going to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
On this subject, Donald Trump pretends to kick in, the hostages going first, to then explain: “I tell you, it would be a big insult to our country”if he lost. He then just called the Israeli Prime Minister to rejoice with him about the agreement. The latter has for the moment nothing to fear from his religious right, the one which allows him to keep his majority in the Knesset. His Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed the announced release of the hostages, warning that Hamas must then be disarmed and eradicated. Later, he refused to vote for the plan, but without leaving the coalition led by the Prime Minister. No threats, then. Netanyahu keeps his post. He took advantage of his conversation with Trump to invite him to come and give a speech to the Knesset. This is not anecdotal. We remember that Trump had shunned Israel during his tour of the Middle East, in particular because of the stubbornness in continuing the offensive in Gaza by the same Netanyahu.
The Israeli Prime Minister now sees his American partner as a savior who “deserves the Nobel Prize”. Bibi learned how to take Trump by feelings… At home, the importance of the event and the role played by Trump in this almost won peace should be contrasted with the pathetic spectacle taking place at the same time in France, where a political class is torn apart around an impossible quest for a government. Some, like Trump, act for the good of their fellow human beings and the whole world, while others look at their navel. The concomitance of the two events makes the fate of France even more cruel.
What future for Hamas?
Even the Russians, through Sergei Lavrov, their Minister of Foreign Affairs, recognize that the Trump plan is “the best we have”. Is this a sign that another “Trump plan” could soon work in another part of the world, namely Ukraine? Nothing is less certain at this stage, but the unanimity around American action in the Middle East deserves to be underlined. There remains a mountain of obstacles still standing. The next steps will address thorny questions: status of Gaza, reconstruction of the territory, and above all the political future of Hamas. He has already made it known that we will not disarm the Palestinian resistance. The road to peace promises to be long.
