By James M. Dorsey
Second-guessing US President Donald J. Trump is a tricky business.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump took many by surprise when he seemingly handed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu the ethnic cleansing of Gaza on a silver platter.
Mr. Trump’s gift to Mr. Netanyahu on his visit to Washington came out of left field. Many had expected the president to force the prime minister to agree to a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire in which Israel would relinquish control of the Strip and completely withdraw its troops.
Instead, Mr. Trump asserted that the United States would take ownership of Gaza and turn it into a high-end beachfront real estate development project. Gazan Palestinians would be resettled in Egypt, Jordan, and other countries willing to accept them.
At face value, Mr. Trump’s gift robs Israel and Hamas of any incentive to negotiate a second phase of the ceasefire if the president and Mr. Netanyahu have already decided that there was no place for Palestinians in Gaza’s future.
Even so, Hamas this week agreed to speed up the ceasefire’s first phase of prisoner exchanges. Hamas also proposed to release all remaining 59 live hostages scheduled to be swapped in yet-to-be-agreed stages in one go in the ceasefire’s second phase, provided Israel declares a permanent end to the war and pulls its forces out of Gaza.
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