Wow: Hamas is at least pretending to accept President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, offering real hope that the Gaza war can end — for good.
Hope, too, that families that have waited two years (as of next Tuesday) will at last have their loved ones home.
And other hostage families will at least have the closure of a burial.
We can only imagine the agony now as these Israelis wait to see if it’s really going to happen; let us all pray it’s exceeded by the joy of family reunification.
Trump means to make it work: He quickly answered Hamas’ statement with a call for Israel to cease bombing at once to allow for immediate hostage releases; that sounds right to us.
But let’s be clear: The terrorists need to show immediately that the statement wasn’t simply a ploy to evade the 6 p.m. Sunday deadline that our president set Friday morning.
Hamas has played endless games in negotiations, even on Trump’s watch; no one should believe it’s giving up its last real leverage until every hostage is home.
We can’t help but notice that the terror group’s statement to Al Jazeera conspicuously didn’t mention some key points of the plan, such as the “Hamas disarms” provision.
It also suggests Hamas expects a voice in forming the area’s new governing authority.
But this is at least a start, and it’s well worth giving the terrorists a chance to deliver on the concessions they do make explicitly — first and foremost, handing over the remaining 48 hostages, 20 or 21 of whom Israel believes still live.
In line with the president’s words, the IDF plainly needs to cease offensive operations at once and prepare to pull back to the first withdrawal line as per the Trump plan.
Meanwhile, Hamas must start freeing hostages immediately: We see absolutely no reason why the first releases can’t start Saturday.
In the chaos of war, and with some hostages farmed out to Islamic Jihad and other terror factions, a few more days may be needed to get them all out — but this crucial first step can’t wait on any negotiations except over the practical details of the handovers.
No taking time to hold those macabre public ceremonies.
We’ll understand if Israel’s response is cautious, but Jerusalem simply can’t point to the terrorists’ initial weaseling as reason to claim Hamas has rejected the plan: Give them a chance to prove their bad faith, if that’s what it is.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s overriding concern now must be the hostages and their families.
After all, if Hamas insists on negotiating other details about its exit and the future Gaza government — well, fine, as long as it frees the hostages first.
Should it then make outrageous demands, the IDF will be free to go back in to finish the job.
For now, we’ll hope that the hesitation is simply saving face, or at least that a reasonable full and final accord — one that permanently ends the terror threat to Israel from Gaza — is within reach.
Fingers crossed; focus now on getting those hostages home.
And if the rest of this works out, Trump clearly will deserve that Nobel Peace Prize.