If this Israel-Hamas peace deal actually holds — even for a while — it’ll go down as one of the more remarkable diplomatic achievements in recent memory. By all accounts, it looks like a done deal.
And right on cue, here comes a former president who had absolutely nothing to do with it — a man who’s never brokered peace anywhere, let alone in the Middle East — jumping onto X with his trademark self-congratulatory bluster. It’s classic Barack Obama: swoop in at the finish line, take credit for the work of others, and hope the headlines don’t remind anyone of the years of failure that came before:
After two years of unimaginable loss and suffering for Israeli families and the people of Gaza, we should all be encouraged and relieved that an end to the conflict is within sight; that those hostages still being held will be reunited with their families; and that vital aid can start reaching those inside Gaza whose lives have been shattered.
More than that, though, it now falls on Israelis and Palestinians, with the support of the U.S. and the entire world community, to begin the hard task of rebuilding Gaza – and to commit to a process that, by recognizing the common humanity and basic rights of both peoples, can achieve a lasting peace.
Let’s break this down.
First, let’s be clear — the last two years have been a nightmare of unimaginable suffering for Israeli families who lost loved ones or watched them dragged into barbaric captivity. It’s also been two years of devastation for civilians in Gaza, many of whom are desperate for Hamas to disappear so they can live in peace.
But here’s what Barack Obama conveniently leaves out every single time he opens his mouth about this conflict: Hamas started it. They launched one of the most savage, cold-blooded terrorist attacks the modern world has ever witnessed. That’s the truth — but you’ll never hear Obama say it. Instead, he hides behind vague platitudes about “both sides,” as if moral equivalence can wash away the fact that it was Hamas, not Israel, that lit this fuse.
Second, yes — aid will finally start flowing more freely into Gaza, and that’s a good thing. We’ll set aside the Greta Thunberg jokes for the moment. But once again, Barack Obama conveniently skips over some rather key facts.
He never mentions that the people of Gaza chose Hamas. They voted for the very terrorists who turned their cities into launchpads for rockets and their children into human shields. And he certainly never mentions that the term “Palestinian” itself is a historical construct — first invented by the Romans, later perpetuated by the British. There’s no Palestinian language, no distinct Palestinian culture, no separate national history.
These aren’t a people “without a home” — they’re Arab Muslims, indistinguishable in heritage and culture from their neighbors in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or even Israel. The only thing that sets them apart today is the violent ideology of the group they empowered — Hamas — and the world’s willingness to pretend otherwise.
Third — and most glaringly — Obama couldn’t bring himself to mention the name of the one man who actually made this deal possible: President Donald J. Trump. The man who, time and again, has done what the so-called “experts” said couldn’t be done. He’s the one who laid the groundwork, built the leverage, and reestablished America’s credibility on the world stage — the very foundation that made this peace agreement even thinkable.
Now, sure, he hasn’t managed to bring Russia and Ukraine to heel yet — that’s a war that may never fully stop — but this deal? It’s done. And Trump deserves a huge share of the credit.
Whether it lasts is another question. If any trace of Hamas remains in Gaza, they’ll treat the ceasefire like every other pause before — a chance to regroup, rearm, and plan the next slaughter. But for now, the guns are quiet, the hostages are coming home, and the world can breathe, however briefly. And that’s happening, in no small part, because President Trump got it done.