Details are still missing, but I failed to comment on one key aspect.
Yesterday, I praised Trump for negotiating a Gaza cease-fire. In a second post, I noted, without comment, the US would send 200 troops.
A couple readers blasted my support of US sending troops. I don’t support sending US troops, but the blame is mine for failure to comment.
The risks of sending US troops to the region are enormous. What happens if one is shot? What’s the next move? A US-Israel invasion of Gaza?
A Cause for Hope
I am happy for a ceasefire, especially if one sticks. But as I noted, huge issue remain.
The Wall Street Journal commented As Truce Takes Effect, Israelis and Gazans Allow Themselves to Hope
The euphoria that swept across a war-weary land is now giving way to a realization that Israelis and Palestinians now must confront the toll of the war and questions over what comes next.
The human toll of the war, and a defiance in the face of international criticism over it, led some of Israel’s traditional Western allies to turn against it. Israel’s growing isolation has widened fissures between its far-right and more globalist left, and caused soul-searching over how far a nation should go to defend itself.
Under this week’s agreement, Israeli troops have been ordered to halt their fight against Hamas and begin a staged withdrawal from the enclave. In the coming days, Hamas must return all 48 remaining hostages, starting with 20 who are still alive and then the bodies of the rest, which may take more time to locate and recover. In exchange, Israel will free some 2,000 Palestinians held in its prisons.
Meanwhile, negotiations will continue toward a more permanent settlement. Much is unresolved.
In Gaza and in Israel, joy and relief at the step toward peace—however piecemeal and fragile—burst out into the open. Thousands of people poured into a courtyard in Tel Aviv known as Hostage Square to bang on drums, dance and sing with strangers. They waved Israeli and American flags, one woman held a sign reading: “WE ♥️TRUMP, He who saves just one life saves an entire world.”
“I came to celebrate, with everybody else who’s here, to feel the joy that has come from so many months and months of pain,” said Caroline Glasser, a 64-year-old retiree who joined the crowds on Thursday.
The reprieve has also given Gazans a moment to take stock of their surroundings, and to despair at what they see. Ahmad Tanini, a 34-year-old father of three who lives in a tent camp in the coastal area of al-Mawasi, said that even if the fighting stops, much of Gaza is already destroyed.
Still, for young Gazans like Hazem Srour, hope is the only option. At 22, he says he got through the war by focusing on his accounting studies—even when his university was forced to shut down and he had to adjust to irregular, remote courses—and founding a co-working space with a friend to foster community for others like him who have struggled to keep some semblance of a normal life.
If peace can last, he said, he wants to revive his business so he can settle in a house, buy furniture, get married and build a family.
“Those are the goals I have right now,” he said.
The US did not belong in Afghanistan, in Iraq, or in Syria. And US troops do not belong in Israel or Gaza either.
This is a regional issue. And while Trump can play a beneficial role, that role needs to be from the sidelines.
There is reason for skepticism because every existing ceasefire ended violently.
But for now, praise the cease-fire and the hope.
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