How Can Supporters Avoid Being Stung by Trump Twice?

Author: Akram Atta Allah

It will become clear in the coming days whether we are facing an American driving force moving to stop the war, whether the parties will falter in implementing what the US president said and Hamas’s response, or whether we are witnessing a repeat of last January’s scenario — when the US president showed such seriousness that it was believed he would topple Netanyahu if he did not comply, and that Netanyahu had become a burden on the United States. At that time he sent his envoy Witkof before taking the presidency to force Netanyahu into the Saturday meeting that violated religious norms, but what then became apparent was that Trump was covering for Netanyahu’s withdrawal after the first phase, threatening Gaza with hell and blaming Hamas for squandering the opportunity.

All Trump cared about then were the hostages, of whom he secured the largest batch in the first phase. That scenario is worrying in the behavior of a mercurial US president and staunch friend of Israel who, since returning to the White House, has acted as a mere executive arm for Benjamin Netanyahu and his projects.

This time, Arabs and Turkey played a role in influencing the US president, leaving the question: does this pressure form a force capable of countering Israeli pressure? Will the US president, with his habitual cunning, repeat the same scenario — presenting this plan under pressure that compels Arab and non‑Arab states to endorse his initiative — then leave Hamas alone with no choice but to accept despite its angry stance toward his plan’s terms, and the president’s insistence on giving 72 hours to release the hostages, the most important card in Hamas’s hand? That insistence aroused suspicion, especially since Trump’s guarantees are a bitter experience for the Palestinians; this is a difficult scenario to ignore in assessing the moment.

There may even be a desire among parties, including those friendly to Hamas, to see an end to the war that aligns with Israel’s wishes. Contacts were made between capitals to pressure Hamas to offer what amounts to an unannounced surrender, and the movement’s statement came as a prelude to that — which conflicted with its initial angry reaction to Trump’s initiative when he announced it, alongside his partner Netanyahu, who appeared elated as he declared it met Israel’s interests and conditions to end the war.

In another phase, the pressure shifted to Hamas after being directed internationally at Israel, especially after the UN General Assembly meeting. Netanyahu was searching for a savior — it became clear that the license to wage war had expired and needed renewal. No one would risk assuming that the United States, with its two parties and different administrations, would present any paper without Israeli participation in drafting it — if not drafted by Israel alone and handed to the Americans to implement.

We are facing a highly strange and savage duo, “Trump – Netanyahu”: one a criminal wanted by justice, the other capricious and sadistic in temperament, aspiring to a Nobel Prize and apparently unwilling for the war to continue into the prize distribution on the 10th of this month, even temporarily. Yet he considers his greatest prize Israeli approval. Since his first term he has offered what no US president did for Israel, especially moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. Palestinians therefore view anything related to Trump with suspicion; the believer is not stung twice by Trump — he has done it repeatedly to the point that he would topple Netanyahu and then receive him like a conqueror.

For the war to stop, one side must make major concessions; Israel has set five conditions to halt the war, beginning with Hamas handing over its weapons and ending with permanent Israeli control. Has Israel backed down from its conditions, or has Hamas offered what might be considered a surrender? Is this the form of an end to the war that Israel wants and that the United States supports, with Trump behind it, who had suggested the movement’s surrender as a way to end the war? Has Hamas reached such convictions under pressure from the battlefield or from the friends on whom the US president relied to persuade Hamas?

If the war stops at this moment, the US president will have obliged Israel to accept what he wants, and this is the wish of Gaza, the Palestinians, and all those seeking an end to this nightmare that left Gaza isolated and stripped of brothers and friends. But it is doubtful Trump will specifically do that; initial impressions suggested he put forward this plan to have Hamas reject it in order to save Netanyahu and renew the legitimacy of the war as he sees it. There were fears of American‑Israeli collusion repeated over recent months to an audacity toward Hamas and Iran; the US president was a mere cog in Netanyahu’s propaganda and military machine.

We face highly sensitive days open to scenarios. The Israeli side did not like Hamas’s statement because it skillfully threw the ball into Israel’s court, but Netanyahu was craftier and decided to send his delegation to negotiate and instructed readiness to receive hostages and prepare the army. Will Hamas hand them over as Trump’s document stipulated timewise? If they are handed over, then we are facing another scenario; it could be a deception the duo is accustomed to. Nevertheless, hope is pinned on this being the scenario closest to ending the tragedy, despite the fears. But history must also move; it would be sadistic to stop at a moment that makes the Palestinian the eternal victim. Two dark years have passed — the fire poured on Gaza was enough to dry the oceans — it is time to put an end to this, and between wishes and reality there is a distance we hope will be zero this time.