Hamas Believes Trump is Bluffing on Hostage Agreement

As we headed into the holiday season, reports surfaced that Israel and Hamas were very near a cease-fire deal.

Those talks recently broke down, and now reports have surfaced that Hamas broke off negotiations because it believes it can get a better deal with Trump in office.

The Deal

Going back to mid-December, it was reported that Israel and Hamas were very near a deal to end this war,

In mid-December, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, claimed the two sides were closer than ever to having a deal done.

Hamas seemed ready to buckle for several reasons, the most notable being that Iran had suffered a major setback with the downfall of Bashar Assad, and Israel had done significant damage to other terror groups supporting Hamas, such as Hezbollah.

By all signs, a deal would be in place before Trump took the oath of office for the second time.

Trump Offers Warning

While these negotiations were taking place, Donald Trump was throwing darts at Hamas, warning them that a deal better be made and all the hostages better be returned.

At the time, Trump stated, "As you know, I gave a warning that if these hostages aren't back home by that date, all hell is going to break out.”

Trump later added that if a deal was not in place by the time he took office, “It’s not going to be pleasant” for Hamas. The belief was that Trump would allow Israel to do whatever it deemed to be necessary to end this war and erase Hamas.

There were roughly 250 hostages captured by Hamas, with about 100 being rescued alive. Of the 100 hostages still being held, it is estimated that only half of them are still alive.

Calling Trump’s ‘Bluff’

This week, it was reported that the talks had broken down, largely in part because Hamas believes that Trump is bluffing and that he will do nothing once he takes office.

Some of the key sticking points on the deal were reported by the Wall Street Journal, stating, “The parties were considering a 60-day cease-fire period that would see the release of up to 30 hostages being held in Gaza, according to the mediators. In exchange, Israel would set free Palestinian prisoners and allow greater humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, they said.”

While negotiations have broken off, the report continued that everyone is expected to return to the table after Donald Trump takes office.

I don’t expect Trump to commit US troops to this war, but I am pretty certain he will give Israel carte blanche with the condition that they are on a clock to end this war on his watch. Trump wants this war over, but he also wants Hamas destroyed, so I think Hamas just made a very serious mistake.