TRUMP EFFECT’ HELPED SEAL GAZA CEASEFIRE – Trump warned all hell will break out in the Middle East if Israeli hostages were not returned
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s influence played a key role in pushing an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal over the line, a Middle East expert said on Thursday (January 16), the day after an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza was announced.
Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank, said both incumbent President Joe Biden and President-elect Trump deserved credit for the deal, but that Trump’s “bluster and hard-line tactics” were proving effective.
Earlier in January, Trump warned “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Oct. 7 2024 attack were not returned to their families by the time he took office.
Both Trump and Biden have claimed credit for the deal. Asked if he or Trump was to take credit for the deal, Biden responded, “Is that a joke?”
But Vakil also warned that securing a ceasefire and finding a long-term political solution were “very different” and that even with a ceasefire in place, the Israel-Palestinian conflict would be a “persistent issue” for the incoming president.
Vakil also expressed concern at the fragility of the truce, saying there were still many issues still to be settled in negotiations including the release of remaining hostages, terms for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and steps towards a political settlement on Palestinian statehood.
