Some deceased hostages returned – will the “peace agreement” last?
The bodies of several deceased hostages were recovered from Gaza this week. The people of Israel continue to mourn the fact that the bodies of many hostages still have not been released by Hamas, as it promised.
Not only has Hamas failed to fulfil its obligations, it has seized the vacuum of power created by the ceasefire and Israel’s partial withdrawal and cessation of hostilities to shore up its dominion over the population. Over the past week it has conducted a ruthless campaign of terrorization, harassment, beatings and murders. Hamas terrorists have rounded up hundreds of Palestinians as part of a massive crackdown on critics and opponents of the terror group. At least 32 Palestinians have been publicly executed and many more otherwise slaughtered by Hamas thugs under the pretext of “collaboration” with Israel. Over fifty of those killed belonged to Hamas’s rival Doghmush clan.
“Hamas has seized the vacuum of power created by the ceasefire and Israel’s partial withdrawal.”
United States Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel this week, to join special envoy Steve Witkoff and top Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The purpose of Vance’s visit is “to shore up the tenuous ceasefire, ensure that all sides remained committed to its terms, and move toward further stages of the US president’s Gaza peace plan” (according to Times of Israel). Vance’s visit comes after President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that he could send international forces into Gaza to confront Hamas over its violations of the ceasefire deal, but said he would “hold off for now” to give the terror group a chance to course correct.
There is zero chance that Hamas will comply. The Trump-sponsored 20-point peace plan requires Hamas to give up its weapons, step down from power and deradicalize. Clearly Hamas has no intention of doing so. There is growing criticism and skepticism about the realism and durability of the agreement. One way or another, Israel will be compelled to use force again to destroy Hamas. Khaled Abu Toameh writes:
“De-radicalization will happen only after Palestinians see that Hamas has been totally defeated, disarmed and removed from power. This is the only way to ensure the success of the Trump peace plan. The way things are going in the Gaza Strip these days, it appears that we are returning to the pre-October 7 era, during which Hamas maintained its grip on the Gaza Strip with an iron fist. Failure to eradicate Hamas will only pave the way for another October 7 massacre against Israel.”
“The International Court of Justice repeated the UN narrative that only Israel has obligations in this conflict.”
In the meantime, the International Court of Justice in The Hague has issued its non-binding Advisory Opinion that Israel is obliged to cooperate with UNRWA and all other UN agencies in the Gaza Strip. The Court repeated the UN narrative that only Israel has obligations in this conflict, and it must ensure that the Palestinian population of Gaza receives humanitarian aid and assistance. The Court completely ignores the realities of the complex urban conflict in Gaza against a terrorist organization that is deeply embedded in (and supported by) the Palestinian population. Thus the Palestinians are treated as eternal victims without any agency or responsibility for their own future. In this way, the Court is contributing to the endless cycle of violence and rejectionism that has characterized the Arab Palestinian leadership for 100 years. ICJ Vice-President Julia Sebutinde issued a strong dissenting opinion, arguing that the majority has miscontrued the legal requirements and ignored the realities on the ground.
The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) passed a first reading of a bill to allow “annexation” of Judea and Samaria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party dismisses the Knesset’s preliminary approval of a bill to annex the West Bank as “trolling… aimed at damaging our relations with the US and Israel’s great achievements in the campaign” in Gaza. “We strengthen settlements every day with actions, budgets, construction, industry, and not with words,” the party says, insisting that “true sovereignty will be achieved not with a show-off law for the protocol, but by working properly on the ground and creating the political conditions appropriate for the recognition of our sovereignty, as was done in the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem.”
This week, let us pray that the people of Gaza will be freed from the culture of death that they are living under. Pray that the bodies of the remaining hostages will be found and released so they can have a dignified funeral. Pray for the families of the hostages and of all those who have died in this conflict. Pray for the coming of the Prince of Peace, who alone can bring true shalom.
‘Very optimistic’ ceasefire agreement will hold, Vance says in Israel
“If we get this right, I really do think it’s going to be a domino that will lead to peace all across the region,” the U.S. vice president said.
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US opens ‘coordination hub’ in Israel for Gaza aid
“Bringing together stakeholders who share the goal of successful stabilization in Gaza is essential for a peaceful transition,” CENTCOM said.
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The Implications of Hamas’s Public Executions and the World’s Silence
Hamas has decided to eliminate any Palestinian opposed to terrorism and supportive of coexistence with Israel. Hamas’s actions demonstrate that the terror group is determined to exploit the current ceasefire to reassert its control over the Gaza Strip.
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Israeli Diaspora minister: Erdoğan a ‘sworn enemy’ of Israel, West
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly ruled out Turkey’s participation in the International Stabilization Force in Gaza.
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SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
Ezekiel 37:19-28
I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
