The current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is holding - barely. It’s a moment that feels suspended between hope and collapse, and history reminds us of just how quickly such moments can unravel.
Let’s be honest: it’s never wise to take Hamas at its word. The old adage of ‘trust but verify’ never rang truer. So when President Trump announced that Hamas had committed to returning deceased Israeli hostages, there was no independent way to verify that they actually had the bodies… and now we’re witnessing the consequences.
Inside Gaza, Hamas is consolidating control - silencing rivals, coercing pledges of loyalty, and taxing humanitarian aid. This is the hallmark of an organization that has no intention of giving up power. The United States, as one of the guarantors of this ceasefire, along with our Egyptian, Turkish, and Qatari allies, currently has no hard mechanism to stop that downward slide. And while the just-secured deal that returned all of the living hostages, as well as returned Palestinian prisoners, opened up the aid floodgates, and ended the Israeli bombing of Gaza is more than welcome news, words alone won’t hold this peace.
What’s missing now is an enforcement mechanism that ensures that Hamas can’t once again strengthen its grip over the Palestinian people in Gaza while continuing to be a security threat to Israel’s southern border. We do not want to go back to the world as it was on October 6, 2023.
Yet amid this uncertainty, we shouldn’t overlook the significant success of recent weeks. President Trump’s team did something that was both difficult and remarkable by securing this deal. That required coordination with key American partners - nations that maintain channels to Hamas and have leverage over its actions. Now is the moment to use that diplomatic capital. These countries must be called to the table, aligned with the United States, and should be pressed to deliver a unified message: Hamas must live up to its commitments, must disarm, and must turn over control of Gaza to legitimate technocrats that can create a better future for the people living there. Period.
This is a dangerous and defining moment. We have the wind at our backs and a true opportunity to create a better day for Palestinians and Israelis alike. We must not let Hamas be a spoiler and walk away from its commitments. The U.S. and our partners must act with urgency and discipline - not to manage another temporary truce, but to finally change the incentives that keep Gaza trapped in endless cycles of violence.
Persistence, engagement, and pressure - not proclamations - is what peace demands now.
