January 15, 2025

Israel Gets Short End of the Stick in Deal With Hamas

The terrorists who brutishly massacred 1,200 innocent people are being offered lenient terms.

There is an actual ceasefire deal on the table between Hamas and Israeli negotiators. By “actual,” I mean the first one in which the terms offered by Hamas are not beyond the realm of possibility. Sadly, that’s not saying much.

According to a draft acquired by the Associated Press, the ceasefire and hostage deal that is being negotiated has three phases. Phase one would see that 33 hostages are released over the course of six weeks, with all hostages being released by the end of phase two (this includes the dead as well as the living). In exchange, Hamas would receive a thousand detainees from Israel, 190 of whom are terrorists serving prison sentences, and Israel would pull out of civilian centers and eventually move back to pre-October 7 borders with an 800-meter buffer zone. The prisoners Israel has are to be released into Gazan, Egyptian, or Turkish custody, not the West Bank.

If this draft becomes reality, then it shows that, once again, Israel is getting the worst end of the deal. Not only was the Jewish state invaded and savaged by these Hamas monsters but it’s now being compelled to give up some of its safety and security by releasing dangerous prisoners whose numbers are disproportionate to the hostages taken.

Israel’s former defense minister, Benny Gantz, told reporters, “There will never be a perfect deal, and there never was the possibility of one — every deal will come with painful costs.”

To that point, this deal doesn’t sit well with the more conservative wing of Israel. The hostages have been in captivity for 15 months and should be released all at once. Protesters have gathered in Jerusalem to oppose the proposed deal’s terms. Activists are calling on the Religious Zionist and Otzma Yehudit parties, as well as the Likud Knesset lawmakers, to pull out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government coalition should this current deal be finalized.

Why the sudden urge to get this deal done? Well, President-elect Donald Trump, who is very pro-Israel, has promised publicly that should the hostages not be returned posthaste, there will be “hell to pay.” Some speculate that this threat sparked enough fear in the hearts of the remaining Hamas terrorists to come to the table. Others fear that Netanyahu has been pushed into accepting a bad deal to spare Trump any embarrassment should Hamas not deliver some of the hostages by January 20.

Given Trump’s track record, if he’s putting pressure on Israel to sign this deal, then there are likely other perks he’s throwing in to placate the Israelis — like the license to blow up Iran’s nuclear facilities or the latitude to hunt down the rest of the Hamas operatives after the release of the hostages.

As of this writing, the deal has not yet been finalized. Parties are waiting on Hamas to accept the deal. While this is certainly the closest Israel and Hamas have come to an agreement, we are waiting on tenterhooks to see if the terrorists are actually ready to deal — or if they are prepared to face Trump’s promised hell.

Update: Arab and Israeli officials have revealed that a ceasefire deal has been reached. As was reported, 33 hostages will be released in the first phase. The real test comes 16 days after the ceasefire. That’s when Israel and Hamas will begin talks about ending the war and even rebuilding Gaza. Up until this point, Israel has demanded the release of the hostages and a continuation of the war so that Hamas is forever eliminated as a threat. Hamas would like not to be wiped off the face of the earth — though they richly deserve it. Sixty percent of Israelis feel that their country has accomplished enough of their war objectives and prioritize the return of hostages, so perhaps talks won’t be as fraught as they have been in the past couple of months.

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