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On Monday, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House to discuss, according to President Trump, "Iran, trade, the expansion of the Abraham Accords, and... how to end the war in Gaza."

This last point is the focus of today's Action Update, but we would be remiss not to note that the international sanctions regime snapped back against the Iranian regime last Friday despite the best efforts of Moscow and Beijing.

But our focus today is Gaza.

Ceasefire

**Tachlas**

(

**Tachlas - Yiddish derived from Hebrew, meaning "the actual and most practical details")**

The U.S. government has put forth a proposal to end active combat in the Gaza Strip by seeing a return of all hostages and a disarmament of any in Hamas who remain in the Strip. As soon as the ceasefire takes effect, Hamas would have 72 hours to
release all the hostages - both alive and deceased.

Israel would release nearly 2,000 convicts and security prisoners, including 250 terrorists who received life sentences. Israel would also engage in a limited and phased withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, enabling a non-terrorist, internationally led entity to provide basic security in those areas where Israel does not currently have a presence and from where it would, over time, withdraw.

If the ceasefire is agreed to, Israel will have achieved the goals it laid out at the outset of this horrific war, namely: to secure the return of all hostages, see Hamas disarmed and destroyed, and ensure the Gaza Strip cannot be used to launch attacks against the Jewish state.

**There Will be Tears**

In addition, Jerusalem also dealt a debilitating blow to its most strategically significant foe, Hezbollah, and kneecapped their paymasters in Iran.

Nonetheless, if Hamas does actually accept the agreement and releases the hostages,
jubilation will be limited. There are 48 hostages left in Gaza. It is believed that less than half, approximately 20, are still alive.

Those who come back to their loved ones alive will have been starved, tortured, and abused for nearly two years. Their minds, bodies and souls will be forever impacted by the horrors wrought by Hamas and its barbaric henchmen. None of the hostages have ever been visited by the Red Cross.

Tragically, the Children of Israel have dealt with such horrors before. They know how to treat the mind, body and soul of those the evil sons of Amalek sought to break, as Israel is a country reborn in part through the efforts of those who survived the Holocaust. The Children of Israel have seen evil, and they know how to repair its searing wounds.

**Is It Over?**

Nothing in war is easy, not even the end. Thousands of Israeli soldiers and civilians have been wounded as a result of Palestinian terror during these past two years. They, the hostages that
are home, and, God willing, those that will come home, will require care and compassion. And just because Israel has defeated the Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist cartel does not mean that the Arabs of Judea and Samaria have abandoned their hatred.??

Just in recent days, the West Bank saw multiple Palestinian terror attacks and attempted attacks, with at least one soldier killed. Likewise, the Houthis continue to sporadically lob missiles at Israel, and Iran is still bent on building a nuclear bomb, though they've been set back quite a bit.

So... no. Even if Hamas agrees to the ceasefire and follows through on its associated commitments (and that's a big if), Israel would still be facing a world of adversaries and those too weak to stand up to evil.

**Peace Through Strength (Take... 17?)**

And it's this last group - you know the ones, the leaders in London, and Paris, and so on, who decided that the best way to address Palestinian terror was to reward it with
recognition of Palestinian statehood - that deserves a bit (and only a bit) of our attention.??

Mainly, we have to ask: How many times must Washington and Jerusalem deliver progress, and even victories, before the Europeans and their like-minded cohorts realize that peace is delivered through strength, not capitulation?

The neo-liberal fetishization of a false and fantastic Palestinian narrative prolongs the conflict by emboldening terrorists and their supporters amongst the people. Conversely, conquering Rafah and invading Gaza City, blowing up half of Hezbollah, and showing Iran and Qatar that they are not immune from consequences (all in the face of neo-liberal condemnations), is what has enabled Washington and Jerusalem to tell Hamas, "take the deal, or else" - and to do so with the backing of a (now) begrudging Ankara and quivering Doha.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team

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