The feeble efforts of President Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP) to move forward last year’s agreement with Hamas and Israel for the disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza began a two-day effort, first with Hamas and then with Israeli PM Netanyahu. Yesterday’s opening in Egypt had the trio of Sir Tony Blair, Jared Kushner and BoP head Nikolay Mladenov meeting with Hamas’ political leader Khalil al-Hayya, along with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi, Board of Peace senior advisers Aryeh Lightstone and Liran Tancman, and a senior Turkish official.
Hamas issued a statement, reporting that they had called on the Board and mediating countries to “compel the [Israeli] occupation to implement all its obligations under the first phase, end all violations, halt killings and incursions, [and] approve the roadmap for the second phase” of the US-brokered ceasefire plan. There was nothing new there, as Hamas agreed on July 30 to Phase 2, their disarmament, simply on the basis of Israel being compelled to make good on its 2025 Phase 1 obligations. In Phase 1, Hamas had to release all the hostages, both alive and deceased, which they did.
Separately, four Arab countries—Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE—joined three major Muslim-majority countries—Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia—in condemning Israel’s continued opposition to Trump’s peace plan, underlining that, unless dealt with, the region could be set aflame.
