The President of the United States does not doubt that “we have peace in the Middle East.” This was what he said during a joint press conference with several members of the Administration, on the day he took the opportunity to congratulate himself on the recovery of the last body of an Israeli hostage, victim of the massacres of October 7, 2023.
Furthermore, Donald Trump gave unusual praise to Hamas, in power in Gaza, saying that the group helped with the recovery of the missing bodies.
“Hamas was instrumental in recovering all of the hostages,” Trump said. “We were not satisfied and they had to bring them back. And they found the hostages dead, the bodies of the hostages,” he continued. “They helped us with the bodies.”
Trump Administration special envoy Steve Witkoff later said that what allowed the release of all the hostages held by Hamas was the president’s policy known as “peace through strength.”
A ceasefire in a precarious second phase
Steve Witkoff assured journalists, while speaking with Trump, that the President’s peace plan for Gaza was entering the second phase, after the return of all hostages. And that the Israelites had also returned hundreds of bodies, killed in these years of war.
But there is a very complicated issue to be resolved: the total disarmament of Hamas’ armed wing, which Witkoff guarantees will be done, especially because the militants “have no choice.” It is an absolute demand from the Prime Minister of Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu also wants a technocratic government created within the framework of the Trump plan without the presence of Hamas.
The technocratic government, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, aims to demilitarize and rebuild the Gaza Strip, according to President Trump.
It has 15 members and the majority are professionals who are not linked to Gaza or the Palestinian Authority, although some have links to Fatah.
