The Trump administration has strengthened Israel’s bargaining position in its first week in office vis-à-vis Hamas and Hezbollah, two Iranian-backed terrorist groups that launched a brutal but failed war against Israel in October 2023.
On Sunday, Hamas backed down and agreed to reveal the number of hostages (18), of the 33 to be released in the first phase of the current deal, who are still alive (it did not specify which ones). It also provided a list of the 33 hostages to be released (65, both living and dead, will remain in captivity until the next stage of the deal). And Hamas agreed to release American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, along with Israeli women Arbel Yehud and Agam Berger, on Thursday.
Morover, on Sunday, Lebanon agreed to an extension of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah — an extension that Israel sought in order to stay in southern Lebanon and continue dismantling Hezbollah’s operations. While the Trump administration was thought to have preferred that Israel complete its withdrawal from Lebanon, it agreed to an extension until February 18, which will allow Israel an additional three weeks to secure its borders.
Trump has also floated the previously taboo idea that some Palestinians should be relocated from Gaza to other Arab countries — a proposition that the Arab world has rejected but which might prevent future rounds of conflict in Gaza.
Moreover, Trump signed a series of pro-Israel executive orders on his first day in office, including an order reversing the Biden administration’s unusual sanctions against certain right-wing Israelis and Israeli political organizations.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
