Hostages Are Home, But War May Restart

 

On his way to Israel, the delusional Malignant Fascist used his trademark puffery regarding the Gaza ceasefire in pompously announcing "the war is over" and peace in the Middle East is at hand, but he may want to check with key members of the right-wing Israeli Government. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz is promising to destroy the tunnel network under Gaza after all the hostages are safe, which would involve demolition under buildings that have not already been leveled by Israel's bombing. National Security Minister Ben-Gvir voted against the ceasefire agreement and is likely to support continued military action to eliminate Hamas. Israel's Finance Minister, extremist Bezalel Smotrich refused to support the ceasefire and said Israel should continue the war after the hostages are home.

There's also reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu, judged a war criminal by the International Criminal Court for the war in Gaza, won't attend today's conference co-chaired by the MF in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt of some 20 leaders due to a religious holiday after being invited personally by the MF, a slight that the MF won't take kindly to. Without the Israelis at the conference, the key ingredient for any sustainable ceasefire and pathway to stability in the Middle East is missing, likely intentionally if we take top Israeli officials' words to heart.

BONUS: Foreign policy expert Richard Haas on today's "victory lap" by the MF:

"The president is talking so much about how all this is behind us and I look at the Middle East and I look at Hamas still in the streets — I think disarming Hamas is going to be an impossibility, I see Israel continuing its settlement programs and so forth.

“I think the chance of this ceasefire breaking down are real. There's such a sense that peace is at hand and what has been accomplished, and what was missing from this was a sense of the difficulty to come and the clear commitment of the United States. [snip]

So again, this is more of a victory lap speech for the president. And again, a clear political, if you will, endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu. But I don't think there was a lot here that showed that he and his administration are aware already of what needs to be done.” (our emphasis)

(photo: Trump at Knesset with Netanyahu. Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/Getty Images)