President Donald Trump may have pulled off one of the most extraordinary diplomatic feats of the last several decades by negotiating a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war.
The key to ending the war was never stopping the Israeli counterattack against Hamas, which started the war and which would have declared victory if Israel had accepted the unilateral ceasefire demanded by its critics.
Rather, the key was that Hamas had to agree to release all of the hostages, thereby ending its leverage over Israel; and it had to agree to leave power and disarm. The latter may be a sticking point; the deal is not done.
Hamas is reluctant to give up its weapons because its entire
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