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| Gaza 'Peace Summit': Israel and Hamas remain dissatisfied with each other | ||||
| 2025-10-15 | ||||
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov [REGNUM] On October 13, a multilateral "Peace Summit" chaired by the United States took place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where President Donald Trump declared an end to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas. This time, supposedly, "for good." However, judging by the mood prevailing in the opposing camps, it is too early to make such ambitious statements. WITHOUT WARRING PARTIES Although the summit was attended by representatives of about 20 countries, as well as the leaders of the Arab League and the UN, the meeting took place without representatives of Israel and Hamas. And while the absence of Palestinian rebels was implied from the outset—the movement's representatives agreed to Qatar and Egypt acting as their "advocates" by signing the ceasefire agreement on their behalf—the participation of Israeli negotiators remained uncertain until the very last moment. The summit organizers pretended that inviting the Israelis wasn't on the agenda, apparently hoping Trump wouldn't pay attention. In the end, the opposite happened. Upon arriving in Israel, the Republican was very surprised that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not been invited to Sharm el-Sheikh, and he voluntarily asked Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sisi to “correct this mistake,” which he promptly did. To add further importance to the event, Trump even noted during his speech to the Israeli Knesset that Netanyahu “will be his personal guest” at this historic meeting. However, this did not prevent other summit participants from pressuring Cairo. In particular, following Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's demarche, which occurred almost immediately after el-Sisi's statement (even threatening to turn the presidential plane back over the Red Sea if the Israelis arrived), the Egyptian invitation was again withdrawn. Netanyahu also chose not to escalate the conflict, fully aware that most of the summit guests would be at least disloyal to him, and he himself declined the Republican's invitation, citing his busy schedule. So, formally, the interests of official Tel Aviv in Sharm el-Sheikh were represented by Trump and his team. As a result, the fate of the conflict was decided without its two key participants—exclusively between mediators and “sympathizers.” Although Fatah leader and Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was present on the Palestinian side, his participation was largely symbolic. The Ramallah representatives had no real influence on the tone of the final statements. The future of an independent Palestine, as well as the prospect of Fatah returning to control of the Gaza Strip, remained unclear.
The agreement signed following the "Peace Summit" drew a tentative line under the two-year conflict. It also served as a watershed, indicating that both Hamas and Tel Aviv had largely fulfilled their promises in the first phase and were ready to move forward, working on the post-war reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and other points of Trump's peace initiative.
As well as sensitive topics such as the disarmament of Hamas units and guarantees of safety for the movement's key commanders to travel abroad. The Egyptian side cautiously outlined the prospects for further work. As host of the summit, el-Sisi promised journalists that the next international meeting on Gaza would take place in November. It is expected to discuss funding sources for reconstruction work and select the countries that will oversee the process. However, it is likely that Trump himself will no longer participate in this work, delegating the task to two of his key appointees – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. HAMAS DOES NOT WANT TO DISARM AND LEAVE
For example, Israel is dissatisfied that Hamas has so far returned the bodies of only four of the 28 hostages promised, while the whereabouts of the others remain undisclosed. Some Israeli elites, who recently praised the flexibility of national diplomacy, are disappointed with the actual results. The security forces also have complaints, as they never received the order to evacuate loyalists from the enclave, leaving yesterday's Israeli "bayonets" alone against Hamas. In fact, official Tel Aviv repeated the same mistake it made during the civil war in Lebanon, losing the chance to gain influence in Gaza “from below.” Hamas, however, believes that the Israeli authorities are simply looking for a pretext for revenge, thereby presenting themselves as a party incapable of negotiation in the eyes of the international community. The Palestinians see Trump's proposed guarantees, while sustainable, as vulnerable to Israeli attempts to challenge the new status quo. And as long as this trend continues, the movement is unwilling to seriously discuss either disarmament or withdrawal from the Gaza government. However, even taking into account the discontent of the parties, Trump assesses the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh as historic and believes that the international mediators managed to achieve the main thing: not just stop the bloodshed, but also initiate a real reset in relations between Israelis and Palestinians. And at the same time, it will give additional positive impetus to the fading Abraham Accords: with the cessation of fighting among Tel Aviv's Arab neighbors, the main argument against normalizing relations with the Jewish state has disappeared. And for a Republican, this is much more important than momentary inconvenience. | ||||
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Frank G 2025-10-15 07:00 |