President Trump announced a "historic deal" for Gaza, as well as Hamas's readiness to disarm. But the behavior of Hamas, as well as the Israeli army, suggests that the deal was doomed in advance.
Israel will not withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip until Hamas is completely disarmed. This was said by the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, effectively opposing the deal announced by US President Donald Trump at the end of the previous week. According to her, Hamas should have begun disarming, and at that time Israel should withdraw from the territory of Gaza, which it currently occupies - about 60 percent of the enclave.
Trump praised the "historic deal" at the end of last week, stating that Hamas had agreed to disarm and Israel - to withdraw from Gaza. Now it seems that this may once again turn out to be just a distant dream. There is one big reason - neither Hamas nor Israel currently have any interest in the second phase of the peace agreement in Gaza coming into force, writes ARD.
The people in Gaza were aware
Even when Donald Trump announced that a step forward had been taken and a major change was coming in the situation in the Gaza Strip, the people in the enclave did not flock to the streets, they did not celebrate this "historic deal", as Trump called it. There was no reason for them to rejoice, because they quickly realized that Israel was not directly involved in the deal announced by the American president, explains journalist Jörg Popendik in a commentary for ARD.
In addition, Hamas's agreement to disarm was subject to conditions - and among them were some that the terrorist organization knew Israel would not accept. It is unrealistic to believe that the group would disarm of its own accord, commentator Popendik believes. Therefore, in his opinion, this deal is actually worthless.
Those who still harbored hope that there would be a way forward after this deal quickly became discouraged when they saw that Israel did not comment on the issue at all for several days, and as it later became clear, Netanyahu himself actually rejected this possibility. In addition, Israel launched new strikes on Gaza, which it reported were against Hamas representatives. At least 17 people were killed, making it one of the bloodiest weeks in the Gaza Strip since the truce began last October.
At least 1,252 people have died in Gaza since the truce came into effect, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty statistics that are generally considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not provide a breakdown by civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up the majority of the dead. Israel says its strikes are targeting combatants who participated in the October 7 attack or committed other crimes. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect.
There is too much at stake for Netanyahu
Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election battle in October, reiterated his position that disarming Hamas should be a priority. He said that Israeli forces would continue to "do whatever is necessary to protect our territory and our citizens". The Trump administration "sent us a draft (of the deal). We did not agree. That is not our position", Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media on the occasion of Donald Trump's announcement of a new deal to move to the second phase of the ceasefire.
The Israeli government is currently not interested in reaching an agreement, and part of the reason for this is related to the upcoming elections, ARD writes. Weeks before the long-awaited vote, if Netanyahu's government initiates a large-scale withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, it could be perceived badly by many Israelis, and Netanyahu could be accused of not caring about the country's security. In Lebanon, the situation is similar - negotiations are underway again and a campaign is underway for a gradual withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories in the south of the country, but before the elections in Israel, compromises from Netanyahu can hardly be expected.
There is another big problem, writes Jörg Popendik for ARD. It is that no matter how many mixed signals Donald Trump gives in the negotiations, he remains the only committed party. The Europeans seem to have given up trying to change the situation.