Oct. 4—President Donald Trump, working closely with his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his Arab allies and mediators, yesterday outflanked the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and got the first phase of his 20-point Peace Plan to end Bibi's slaughter in Gaza and release the 48 hostages held by Hamas—living and dead—in motion.

In a rapid-fire series of events yesterday afternoon, Hamas signaled its willingness to work within the framework of the plan and, as quickly as possible, release all 48 hostages once conditions on the ground allowed that. In a statement released by its leadership in Doha, Hamas also said it would agree to turn over control of Gaza to a government of Palestinians, and would seek clarification on other points, including its disarmament, while requiring clear assurances of full withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from Gaza. In so doing, it also acknowledged the efforts of Trump to secure peace and would engage in serious negotiations on this immediately. It made no such reference to the Netanyahu government, which Trump had successfully forced to agree to the plan earlier in the week, pending Hamas' approval.

Trump Responds, Calls for Immediate Ceasefire

Within minutes of receiving this reply, Trump expressed his support for Hamas' acceptance of the principles of the plan, stating that the organization clearly wants "PEACE" in a post on social media. In that statement, referencing the first point of his plan which calls for the cessation of all hostilities, Trump said that the Israelis must "immediately" cease their bombardment of Gaza to allow for the release of the hostages and the release by the Israelis of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Sometime later, word came from the Office of the Prime Minister—but not from Netanyahu—that Israel would begin to take the steps necessary to implement the first phase of the plan, which involved the release of all the hostages. There was no mention of a halt to military activities, with the IDF set to launch its full-bore assault on Gaza City that would slaughter thousands more innocent civilians in Bibi's insane drive to exterminate Hamas in their last stronghold. That news came later from Israeli Army radio, which announced that the army would not move into Gaza City and would stand off; it was not clear if the order to do this came from Netanyahu or from the IDF leadership, which Trump's people have kept briefed on the state of negotiations with Hamas and which leadership is on record—unlike Bibi—calling for a negotiated peace deal rather than continuing a senseless and now totally useless, from a military standpoint, war.

After this, Trump released a video statement recorded earlier with him sitting behind the Resolution Desk in the Oval Office, declaring that this was a "historic day" in which we finally have begun to end the slaughter and terrible conditions in Gaza, profusely thanking his Arab partners and especially the mediators for the hard work they have done to make this possible. He also spoke of the families of hostages, whom he embraces, and who will get their loved ones returned. He expressed hope that the peace plan can be fully realized. One of the last points of that plan is that Palestinians would finally be able to get what they desire in self-determination and aspiration—a Palestinian state, something which Netanyahu has said as recently as last week at the UNGA that he would never allow to happen.

Bibi’s Reluctance and Strategic Calculations

How did we reach this point?

First, it should be stated and known that Bibi Netanyahu does not really support the Trump Peace Plan or any peace plan because he wants the war to continue so that, on all fronts—including the West Bank—he can slaughter as many Palestinians as possible in a genocide worthy of a Hitler, whom his Zionist idol Jabotinsky admired. For Bibi, who sees himself as an unworshipped and misunderstood messiah saving Israel, it is all a matter of math—there are too many Palestinians, both in Israel, in the illegally still occupied territories, but especially in the diaspora. If those latter should come home to a new Palestinian state, they would overwhelm the Jews and extinguish the Jewish state. So, their numbers must be reduced, and war provides the cover for that, even if it means turning the IDF into a version of Hitler's Waffen SS.

So, he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to sign on to the Trump plan. Sources have now reported that Netanyahu was told by an angry Trump on Sunday night, the day before the revealing of the 20-point plan, that he would sign or Trump would publicly walk away from him and Israel. When he objected that this would force the collapse of his ruling coalition, he was told he needed to choose—Trump or his lunatic right-wing ministers. He chose Trump, which now meant he had to try to subvert the plan's implementation while watering down some of its terms that might make it unacceptable to Hamas.

Arab Mediators Apply Pressure on Hamas

Meanwhile, with Witkoff involved at a distance, the mediators led by Qatar and Egypt, but also involving the UAE and Turkey, hammered Hamas, stating that this deal—first proposed in discussions with most Arab and Muslim nations at a meeting with Trump, Witkoff, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner on the UNGA sidelines—was the best that they were going to get, and that if they rejected it, Bibi could blame them for the slaughter he still intended to inflict on the innocent Palestinians whom Hamas claimed to represent. Hamas, sources told them, could not accept all the terms, as this would be surrender and lead to rebellion in its military wing in Gaza, which is highly decentralized and hardly in their control, containing many wild teenage recruits, many of whom joined so they could be fed and paid, unlike the rest of the starving Gazans.

The mediators were also told by Hamas that, while they might believe Trump wanted peace, there was no evidence that he would stand up to Bibi. Communicated to Trump directly, this led to Trump humiliating Bibi by forcing him to publicly apologize to the Qatari Prime Minister Al-Thani for the Sept. 9 attack on Hamas negotiators and leaders in Doha and say that this would never happen again, with Trump releasing the transcript of the call. Al Thani, who was one of the key mediators, immediately transmitted what happened—which was unprecedented in Israeli-American relations—to Hamas, which served as proof that he would make Bibi adhere to any terms of the deal.

Sources report that it became clear that Hamas was willing to agree to some terms of the plan but would require clarification and, in some cases such as disarming, negotiation—a "yes, but..." acceptance. Here, with Witkoff's help, they were instructed on how to phrase this so as to make it acceptable to Trump and difficult for Bibi to call for rejection: lead with the acceptance and willingness to release all the hostages, and link it only to a cessation of hostilities and a commitment to an IDF withdrawal according to a timetable; also accept the turning over of control of Gaza to a government of Palestinians and a willingness to discuss disarming; and immediate opening of Gaza to a massive flow of humanitarian aid to be distributed by the UN and Red Crescent. And, of course, some shoutout to Trump for working for peace.

Bibi’s Media Offensive and Miscalculation

Meanwhile, Bibi was preparing through Zionist media outlets and spokesmen to launch an offensive against the unworkability of the plan, with the idea that a Hamas "yes, but..." was really a rejection, which would lead to Trump's stated approval for the IDF to go ahead with the Gaza City invasion. Trump got wind of what was in the works from several sources on Capitol Hill, which was otherwise preoccupied with the federal government shutdown. That was communicated by Witkoff to the mediators, who urged Hamas not to wait for the weekend to reply to Trump within his four days allowed for their reply, but to reply immediately—which they did.

Trump, who knew basically what was going to be said, was prepared to accept the response almost as it was received. Netanyahu, reading the Hamas statement, was pleased because he took it as a rejection and was shocked that Trump responded positively. Now, he was trapped. With Trump accepting a proposal to immediately release all the hostages, Netanyahu could hardly reject it, lest he be forced into exile by angry mobs of Israelis who were already close to demanding that. So, he fumbled about to make his nonresponse without direct attribution to him.

Media Amplification and Hostage Doubts

Meanwhile, Bibi's media campaign was led by the war party's flagship paper, the Wall Street Journal—dubbed the Urinal for being used for leaks in Zionist and NATO interests—and amplified by reportage in the fake conservative flagships of Sir Rupert Murdoch's media empire, the New York Post and Fox News. They reported that despite the approval in Doha of the Trump plan, the military wing in Gaza was not for it, even though its leader expressed a willingness to compromise. The Urinal claimed to have spoken to other Hamas leaders and some unnamed mediators who said that some of the Hamas in Gaza were against releasing the hostages because once that happened the IDF would move to wipe them out.

While there is no doubt chaos in Hamas in Gaza, given its decentralized and guerrilla-type operations, the Hamas statement reflects discussion with those leaders, who are aware of another factor. An unexpected source has contributed positively to this peace process: when Hamas communicated with its Iranian patrons, they were asked if Iran would continue to supply them with weapons, munitions, and money. They were reportedly told that this would now be almost impossible and that they could no longer count on Iran's support. This would mean, if Iranian resupply were eliminated or greatly reduced, the ability of Hamas to keep fighting was limited—making the peace plan more attractive.

There is still criticism, if somewhat muted, coming from the usual (Zionist) suspects. The feeble-brained Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in a posting on X, called the Hamas reply "unfortunately predictable. A classic 'Yes, but... No disarmament, keeping Gaza under Palestinian control, and tying the hostage release to negotiations, along with other problems," Graham wrote. "This is in essence a rejection by Hamas of President Trump's take-it-or-leave-it proposal."

Unexpected Support from Biden’s Ambassador

Meanwhile, in its coverage trying to disparage what was happening, CNN summoned the Biden Administration's Israeli ambassador, Tom Lew, to comment on the Trump Plan. But he surprised idiot Jack Tapper by stating that he gives Trump "all the credit in the world if he can pull this off. All the credit. This damn war has got to be stopped. If Trump can do that, I give him the credit. It is a great thing." 

Tapper was shocked and asked, "You don't really believe he can make this work, do you?" Lew replied, "Yes, I do. We tried to do this, but Bibi Netanyahu did not need Joe Biden. He needs Trump..." And while Tapper continued to speak of the difficulties, Lew simply said, "I want the war to stop, now. We tried to stop and couldn't. I want Trump to succeed..."

"That I think is what most sane people think," said a source close to the White House, who reported that Trump's people have been in touch with the experienced diplomat and Biden CIA Director William Burns, who tried to negotiate a peace deal with Bibi and Hamas, and who previously had negotiated the Iran nuclear deal working for then Secretary of State John Kerry.

"You know what it's like," said the source. "It is like pushing a rock up a big hill, with a lot of effort. Then, once you get to the top, the way down is easier and picks up speed. I think we are at that point now. We need to build momentum for peace, not just in Gaza, but peace everywhere in the region. Peace and economic development. That's what Trump wants."

Blair’s Exclusion and Council of Peace

Witkoff is expected to head for the region this weekend and may be accompanied by Kushner. But Kushner's new friend, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will be nowhere around.

Hamas and nearly every Arab and Muslim state in the region does not want Blair anywhere near what is going on, as he has been the architect of the British policy of war and destabilization since he used fake intelligence to launch the war against Iraq in 2003. Trump had mentioned Blair in the 20-point plan as the only named member of the "Board of Peace," which will oversee the implementation of the Plan and which Trump will chair. 

"We can give them Blair," the source laughed. "Trump set that up, as he does not like or trust him. He's gone."