There is cause for celebration in the Middle East. The last 20 living hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack against Israel have been released, Israel has also released 1,700 Palestinian prisoners taken during their war against Hamas, and world leaders signed a ceasefire effectively ending the war in Gaza.
We can give credit where credit is due; U.S. President Donald Trump had no small role in negotiating for this development and he should be commended for this.
But the question is and has always been ‘now what?’
What will Hamas do now that they have the time and opportunity to rebuild their forces? Will the Palestinian people still tolerate Hamas leadership after its actions almost led to the eradication of their existence? Who will rebuild Gaza and how?
Will Israel continue to push for the normalization of relations with the rest of the Middle East, which was one reason why Hamas launched their attack in the first place?
Trump dared say that this peace will hold, and while we hope it will, it isn’t something we should readily believe anytime soon. While there is happiness in both Israel and Gaza right now, the seeds have been sown for future conflicts; generations of Gazans will hate Israel for what it did during this war and will think nothing of taking up arms against it, Israel will never stop trying to destroy Hamas.
Will there even be peace? Now that Hamas has lost their best and only bargaining chips –the hostages– what will stop Israel from suddenly finding a reason to resume the war and finish Hamas off? Not that that would be a bad idea, one less terrorist organization to contend with.
What has yet to happen remains to be seen. But for now, let Israel celebrate the return of its hostages, let the people in Gaza celebrate the end of the war, and let the Middle East enjoy this breather in a world that has seen too much conflict recently.