Trump’s Gaza peace plan puts Hamas to the ultimate test
- Armstrong Williams
- Oct 8
- 5 min read
PUBLISHED: October 7, 2025 | newschannel9.com
President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza is a true masterpiece in statesmanship. The plan is clear-sighted, strong and reasonable. With negotiators expected to engage in intense diplomacy in the coming days, an end to the war must be within sight.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also is to be commended for rapidly agreeing to the deal. He demonstrated to the entire world that Israel desires peace and the return of its hostages. He, too, has displayed incredible statesmanship, even taking flak from cabinet ministers to his right, who are railing against the deal for being too generous to Hamas.
The Trump plan requires the disarmament of Hamas, Hamas’s preclusion from future governance in Gaza, and the destruction of terror infrastructure inside the Strip. All hostages currently held in Gaza, living and dead, will be released. The Israeli military will withdraw to pre-agreed lines. Members of Hamas who agree to lay down their arms and to coexist with Israel will be given full amnesty, and any of those who want to leave Gaza will be permitted to do so. Israel will also release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 who are serving life sentences. A committee of apolitical Palestinians and international technocrats will govern Gaza on a provisional basis and oversee its reconstruction, until the Palestinian Authority has implemented reforms.
It is not only Israel and Hamas who have coalesced behind the deal. The governments of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt issued a joint statement welcoming the plan. The PA, which governs the West Bank, also signaled its acceptance and readiness to cooperate, calling Trump’s vision “sincere and determined.”
Before they signaled their acceptance, Netanyahu said that if Hamas rejected the offer, then Israel would “finish the job.” Trump, for his part, stated categorically that in such an eventuality, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.”
This united front and long overdue global pressure for Hamas to return all the living and dead hostages has put the radical terrorist group to the ultimate test. In the coming days it will reveal to the world whether the group cares more about peace, an end to the suffering, and the future of the Palestinian people, or instead needlessly prolongs the war and continued agony for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Hamas’ entire raison d’etre is the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. Since 2007, it has ruled Gaza autonomously, and the results are there for everyone to see: rocket fire; terror tunnels; weapons caches in children’s bedrooms, hospitals, mosques, and schools as part of a human shields strategy; total ideological and physical control over the population; and, finally, the launch of a vicious invasion of Israel, in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered and 250 were kidnapped and taken back into Gaza, and a war that has raged for nearly two years since.
Whether or not it negotiates an end to the present hostilities, it remains to be seen if Hamas will truly lay down its arms and set aside its fanaticism, hatred, violence, and indifference to the suffering of its own people.
The Trump plan for Gaza immediately put Hamas’s useful idiots on the spot. By this, I mean the hordes around the world screaming “Free Palestine”, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”, “Globalize the intifada!”, and “By any means necessary!”
The conceit of “Free Palestine” — that Israel is remorselessly and gleefully caging innocent Palestinians, and that they must “free” them — is a lie.
Israel has for decades agreed to a Palestinian state on multiple occasions, and was each time instead rewarded with rejection, war, and terror attacks. The Palestinians have never been able to accept a final peace offer and fully commit to abandoning violent attempts to murder Israelis. It is their rejectionism of peace, not Israel’s, that is the cause of the conflict.
When Israel has withdrawn from territory, the Palestinians have only used it as a springboard to launch terror against Israelis, and never to make progress toward statehood. Oct. 7 was the most recent and most vicious iteration of this historical phenomenon.
Gaza was “free” from Israel after 2005, and we saw precisely what was done with that “freedom.” Billions in international aid squandered to build terrorist infrastructure.
Now, with Hamas on the ropes and with the promise of a new future for the Palestinians, they have the chance to be “free” again.
Hamas’s phalanxes in the West took to the streets and college campuses before the bodies of Israelis murdered on Oct. 7 had turned cold and while Hamas terrorists were still operating on Israeli soil. They have demanded an immediate end to the conflict — but only on Hamas’s terms.
So now we will see: Will those calling for “Ceasefire Now” continue to recite their mantra, now that Hamas seems poised to accept a generous, far-sighted plan that Israel has already agreed to? Or will they move the goalposts and retreat into “resistance” mode for the foreseeable future, irrespective of the outcome?
Should the hostages be returned and a ceasefire take hold, then it would be an exceptionally positive outcome. For peace to actually have any chance of succeeding over the long-term, the Palestinians must demonstrate by their deeds a willingness to set aside their animus toward Israel and Western civilization.
This was neither a war that Israel wanted or started. This is a devastating conflict that Hamas long planned. It began with the mass murder, rape, and abduction of Israeli civilians, including at a music festival. At every step along the way, it has been Hamas, not Israel, that has rejected offers to stop the fighting.
Trump’s peace plan, a stroke of genius, is a final offer to bring the war and suffering to an end. Israel readily agreed because that is what it wants, regardless of what its haters say. The Arab and Muslim world is ready to move on, too.
The coming days will require hard work to iron out the details of a durable ceasefire. For the sake of Israel, the Palestinians and the entire region, Trump has created an opportunity for true progress that should be applauded.
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Mr. Williams is Manager/Sole Owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year.
Follow me on X: @arightside
This article offers a powerful and detailed look at the complexity of Trump’s proposed Gaza peace plan and its potential implications for both Israel and Hamas. The analysis of diplomatic moves and international reactions highlights how delicate yet critical these negotiations are for long-term regional stability. It’s a timely reminder of how leadership and policy shape global outcomes. For students studying international relations or political science, seeking assignment help can be a great way to better understand such geopolitical dynamics and craft well-researched academic papers on topics like this.