Hamas Started a War, Israel Finished It
We're always very skeptical of any headline comprised of both "Hamas" and "Peace."
That's because when you're dealing with Hamas you're certainly dealing with the devil. A peace plan containing 20 provisions means there are 20 points where Hamas can betray the U.S.
But once again, President Trump appears to be succeeding where many others have failed.
We weren't going to get our hopes up regarding this agreement until Hamas returned all the remaining hostages and surrendered its only real remaining leverage.
Without Israeli hostages Hamas will be forced to fall back on dead Gazans to use against Israel. People are starting to understand that any government using dead citizens that it helped create as a bargaining chip, is an evil government.
Then came Monday.
To our surprise Hamas turned over all living hostages to the Israeli government. That meant 20 captives were finally reunited with their families. One point down . . . 19 to go.
This would never have happened if Israel had not forced a weakened and potentially fatally damaged Hamas to the bargaining table.
Today, Hamas is a shadow of the organization carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Most of its senior leadership is dead.
Many of the terrorists conducting the savage and inhuman Oct. 7 atrocities are dead.
Hamas' infrastructure is destroyed.
Thousands of Hamas' "fighters" are dead as well.
Hamas' global support in the Arab world is at a fraction of what it was before Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas started a war and Israel finished it.
That's why Hamas made the peace deal and its why Hamas released what remains of the hostages.
CNN, of all places, lists a few more crucial milestones for this peace deal to succeed and we agree. "The key elements of this deal beyond the hostage releases include the establishment of an interim security force and political structure for Gaza."
Without this Hamas can slither its way back in and once again assume control of Gaza.
One symptom of Hamas' weakness is that it agreed to a permanent Israeli military presence in more than half of the Gaza strip. That will prevent Hamas' return there.
The rest of Gaza is to be policed by an international force.
We're already planning to position U.S. troops outside Gaza, which is not something we're looking forward to since we still remember the Marine barracks in Lebanon, on October 23, 1983,
If Hamas is to be rendered a non-factor in Gaza, other nations are going to have to contribute forces and these troops must be enforcers and not weak enablers like the UN forces in Lebanon have proven to be.
Finally, the rebuilding of Gaza is an area where we believe the US contribution should be held to a bare minimum. Let the rich Arab oil states rebuild Gaza. It’s in their neighborhood and inhabited by fellow Arabs.
This Gaza deal is another instance where we didn’t think Trump would be able to do it and he did. Even if all 20 points of the deal are not completed, the most important of the 20 was returning the hostages and Trump did that first.
Congratulations and God bless.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.