You could give Donald Trump that Nobel peace prize right now. For a few days, he succeeded in uniting Palestinians and Israelis, though not quite in the way favoured by the judging panel in Norway. Instead, he had both sides holding their breath, hoping he was not about to destroy the closest thing to hope they have known in 16 months.
I am referring to the deal done nearly four weeks ago which has allowed for a ceasefire in Gaza, along with the phased release of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held by Israel. It was always perilously fragile, but this week it looked to be on the brink of collapse. First came a Hamas threat to postpone the next release of three hostages, due tomorrow, in response to alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Then Trump weighed in, saying that he no longer liked the deal brokered by the Biden administration anyway, that he’d had enough of hostages freed “in dribs and drabs” and wanted all of them out in one go, by noon Saturday. Otherwise, he said, “all hell is going to break out”.
