Former U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey told Newsmax on Sunday that Iran's long-standing influence across the Middle East has been broken as Hamas agrees to relinquish control of Gaza under an international agreement backed by President Donald Trump and U.S. allies.
"What we've seen in Gaza, and beginning with the terrible attack on Israeli innocent civilians on the 7th of October in 2023, is absolutely awful," Jeffrey said in an interview on Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda." "But this is just the last chapter of what I've seen around the Middle East and Iraq and in Syria and in Yemen that have taken over a million lives."
The recent developments represent "the end, at least for the moment, of Iran's control over much of the region through its proxies, of which Hamas was a very prominent proxy," he added.
Jeffrey noted that Hamas has pledged to give up governance of Gaza and allow international and local authorities to take over, with an international security force to ensure stability.
"Will Hamas cheat? Absolutely," Jeffrey said. "Is the international community unified under Donald Trump and behind Donald Trump to push back? I think so. And the Israelis will go back in. And those supply humanitarian aid will stop or at least be reduced if Hamas does not play along."
Jeffrey said the United States and its allies "hold a lot of cards" after weakening Iran's regional network. "We, along with Israel and a lot of other countries in the Middle East, took down this Iranian system," he said.
The former ambassador also discussed whether terrorist movements can evolve, pointing to the transformation of Syria's current president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
"He was two decades ago in Camp Bucca, a U.S. Army camp in Iraq prison, as an al-Qaida terrorist," Jeffrey said. "They can change if they see that fighting gets them nowhere. Working and cooperating with others will get them and their people what they want."
On Gaza's reconstruction, Jeffrey said rebuilding is possible but will take a concerted global effort.
"It's hard to put a timeline on it," he said. "Parts of Germany, particularly in the West, were put back together within less than a decade, and the destruction was far more massive. Gaza is just a small area. Every German city was blown to bits in World War II, so it can be done."
He said the difference today is that "politically, all of the pieces are in place because we have a huge international coalition."
"The Iranian opposition is on its back, and Hamas has nowhere else to go," said Jeffrey. "It's really, really a changing moment in the Middle East."
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