Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas responds positively to peace plan

Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas responds positively to peace plan.

Shutdown likely to last through next week as House decides to stay out till Oct. 14.

Earlier today, President Trump set a Sunday deadline for Hamas to respond to the ceasefire plan he released earlier this week, otherwise he threatened “all hell” would be unleashed on Gaza. As it turns out, he did not have to wait that long. Hamas have only had since Tuesday to study Trump’s plan in detail, but today they said they were in agreement with some key points of the plan, though other conditions require further negotiation.

Following this announcement, Trump took to TruthSocial to say he believed they were “ready for a lasting PEACE”. He added that “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”.

Even after this, Israel continued bombing for several more hours. It was only after dawn that the government ordered the army to “halt the operation to conquer Gaza”. The army was ordered to keep operations in Gaza “to a minimum” and to only carry out “defensive actions”.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid tweeted a short while ago that Netanyahu has “political backing at home to continue the process” of peace negotiations. This is important because members of Netanyahu’s coalition have repeatedly vowed to withdraw from the coalition and let Netanyahu’s government fall if he ended the war in Gaza. Lapid seems to imply that he will bolster Netanyahu’s coalition to allow him to negotiate. Lapid has made this offer multiple times in recent months but Netanyahu has not taken him up on it.

Major stumbling blocks remain

Reports earlier this week indicated that Hamas’ militant wing in Gaza was not happy with the plan, particularly with the demand that they totally disarm. Hamas has said they do not expect to continue governing Gaza, but have vowed not to disarm until there is a sovereign Palestinian state. Additionally, Hamas will have the further complication of keeping order in Gaza even if a ceasefire happens. Israel has armed numerous anti-Hamas factions in Gaza that are likely to continue to cause problems and could even result in a civil war.

Hamas leaders are also reportedly leery of the plan for an “International Stabilization Force” in Gaza, which they see as occupation by other means.

In their statement today, Hamas officials said, “The movement also renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support”. This demand for a Palestinian-led government is a far cry from the governing body envisioned in Trump’s plan.

Trump proposes a “Gaza International Transitional Authority” (GITA), led by himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. GITA’s organizational chart calls for a weak Palestinian municipal authority, whose every decision would have to be approved by GITA’s foreign overseers.

Netanyahu undermines the plan after agreeing to it

The biggest obstacle to peace remains Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government. After supposedly agreeing to Trump’s plan this week, Netanyahu outlined to his ministers all the ways that Israel would be able to block the plan’s stated (but ill-defined) goal of establishing a Palestinian state or any Palestinian governance in Gaza.

In a Hebrew-language video uploaded by Netanyahu (translated version here), Netanyahu says the plan will allow Israel to get all its hostages back while maintaining its military presence in Gaza. This strongly suggests he intends to resume the military operation and occupation once the hostages return. Netanyahu also says in the video that he and the Israeli government will continue to “strongly oppose” the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Shutdown likely to drag on through next week as House decides to stay out till Oct. 14

The Senate again voted today on partisan proposals to temporarily fund the federal government. Again, neither proposal got the 60 votes necessary to pass. Senate Republican leadership has also said they will not negotiate with Democrats to end the deadlock. Democrats are holding firm in their demands for healthcare concessions, emboldened by polls that show Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown more than Democrats.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has moved any resolution even further out of sight by declaring that the House won’t meet again until at least October 14. Since the House would have to approve any compromise bill, that means the shutdown will continue until at least the 14th, even if the Senate Republicans do reach a compromise with their Democratic colleagues.

This also means that Johnson can further delay the swearing in of newly-elected Congress woman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ). Grijalva could supply the last vote needed for a House discharge petition to force a vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.