Joe Biden finally has a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and of course Donald Trump is taking credit for it:
We have achieved so much without even being in the White House. Just imagine all of the wonderful things that will happen when I return to the White House.
Sure, whatever. My guess is that Hamas agreed to a deal because they've been thoroughly annihilated along with their compatriots in Iran and Hezbollah. And Netanyahu has agreed to a deal because there isn't a lot of annihilating left for him to do. But what do I know?
Won't work. Any idiot can read a calendar. He's not president yet.
facts don’t matter to anyone besides those of us who are Very Online. amazing that this still has to be said.
I have no fondness for Trump, but nothing can be forward looking?
And Netanyahu is no idiot. Why not wait a week or two and then announce a cease fire, hmm? I think all sides want this to be over before Trump gets in. Who knows how he'll fuck it up?
The creep is probably furious that they couldn't wait one goddamn week so he could plausibly take credit.
Well, he got the flag raised for his coronation so of course he will take credit for everything and spin dirt into gold. That's the king.
Of course he will claim credit. "They knew I am the next President and would force a deal with my super powers, so they rushed to get a deal done now! It is a much worse deal, if you ask me."
My guess is that Hamas would have agreed to a deal a long time ago but Biden and Netanyahu wanted to destroy as much stuff as possible first. Let's face it, much of the destruction would not have happened if Biden's "red line" was something other than "just before I leave office". In addition, Netanyahu knows that he can break the cease fire the minute that Trump is sworn in with no consequences.
I prefer this interpretation. It leaves no room for anyone to have good intentions. Everyone wanted war.
Yup that was the plan.
If Biden had that much control of the situation the cease fire would have been last October and he wouldn’t have waited for when Trump could claim it was because they feared him.
Exactly. A ceasefire announcement in October (strategically citing Harris's leadership in statements from the WH) would have been in Biden's interest. Whether or not he "wanted to destroy as much stuff as possible" before securing a ceasefire, a ceasefire now is sub-optimal from the perspective of Biden's legacy.
Better than nothing, but much worse than had it been sooner.
Yeah, sure, Biden could have used his super powers to change Netanyahu's fascist mind. Geez. You're just like Trump supporters, only you place the magic powers in the Democrat's hand. So have many progressives in the past who thought single payer was just a matter of will. I'm tired of it.
"...Biden could have used his super powers to change Netanyahu's fascist mind. ..."
He wouldn't have needed super powers. All he would have needed to do was stop providing military support to Israel.
"He who pays the piper calls the tune."
I wish Biden had cut off offensive weaponry other than small arms to Israel, especially the bombs. I don’t have any illusions that much would have changed, though. Israel still had the overwhelming advantage in munitions of all sorts, and likely would have found an alternate source for any they needed. The IDF would have had to do more close-quarters fighting and taken more casualties, but I don’t imagine that that would have stopped Netanyahu.
Anybody who thinks that Netanyahu did not have the upper hand here is ..... MAGA.
The myth of Trump is spread more by himself than anyone else. He's a legend in his own mind.
And sadly in the empty minds of half the voters in the US.
It's because they equate being wealthy with being smart and successful. Trump isn't really either of those.
What you seem to refuse to know is who started this stupid conflict…during WWI.
+10.
This is basically the deal that Hamas was ready to accept last summer, that Netanyahu kept turning down...
Not to worry, Gaza may have been destroyed but Hamas is doing just fine...
Where do you think all those orphans are going to support, the people who bombed them and killed their parents or Hamas?
Hamas should have simply surrendered unconditionally once their idiot leader was killed and hez Bull shit was wrecked. Such a deal.
Sure. With Bee-Bee proclaiming that even if he got all the Israeli hostages back and even if Hamas "surrendered", he would keep on bombing and destroying until he was done.
There was no point in trying to give Israel what it claimed it wanted. They just wanted to keep on killing and destroying. Oh, and making TikTok videos to music, showing them doing it!
Well that’s what happens when a weak and misguided group attacks a far more powerful enemy. Whatever delusional ideas of grandeur and victory motivated the Palestinians to attack in 2023 were surely dashed by last summer. And yet, they persisted to the point that even their allies were defeated and destroyed. It’s astonishing, really, how foolish the Palestinians were to think that the world would cheer them on and come to their aid. It was a suicide mission whether they realized it or not. Shame on all sides.
Rumors of Hamas's death have been wildly exaggerated.
Good for them! I look forward to a sequel in 2026 when more death and destruction can be visited upon these pathetic Jewish and Muslim fanatics. When crazy religious people are killing each other, it’s a win for atheists. Pass the popcorn, as they say.
Wonderful! And they can be killed too. When is it going to dawn upon them attacking Israel is a no-win situation? You're not going to avenge 1948! You have Gaza rebuild and pledge to recognize Israel and you can have a Palestinian state at least. Better than continued death at least
Now you are just lying. Netanyahu never said he would continue the war if Hamas surrendered.
But I agree this was a bad deal imposed by an incoming president more interested in a deal than in a good deal. The war should have continued until Hamas unconditionally surrendered. Same terms we offered the Nazis.
Good luck getting Hamas to renounce genocide or not using civilians as human shields like the North Koreans. It was easier with the Germans and Japanese for that matter.
Hurray --- hopefully we will also get a ceasefire in the comment section, although I suspect many of the anti-Isreal people in this commentariat will try to find ways to get in their criticisms...
Sorry ... I should have read ahead.
Rabidly pro-Zionist commentator can't resist getting a dig in even as they criticize others for being critical. As per usual, this particular Low wattage dimbulb is trying mightily to radiate, but with only dismal success.
The timing makes it somewhat implausible that Trump taking power isn't the reason for a cease fire now. So Trump is not wrong in that sense. It could be that Israel finally reached its goal, coincidentally just before Trump took office, but the fact that the main supporters of this war are leaving the governing coalition in protest doesn't support that. Another is that Netanyahu finally has some ministers to replace the ministers leaving so this won't immediately collapse his government. And that is certainly relevant. But it just pushes the question back, why did that happen now?
But no doubt Trump will say that his threatening Hamas brought Hamas to the table. But it appears that Hamas did not have to compromise on anything new to get a deal. That is, it is not Hamas that panicked and signed a deal. It is Netanyahu. So that explanation makes no sense. It appears this is a deal Israel could have had for months, maybe even a year. It leaves Hamas in control of Gaza because all other options would have required at list lip service to peace, and Netanyahu clearly fears peace more than he fears Hamas in charge.
So one possibility is that Netanyahu thought that Trump would pressure Israel into agreeing to peace and so wanted to get ahead of it. Another is that Netanyahu believes (I think correctly) that having Trump cheerlead Israeli war crimes does Israel more harm than good. The fear would not be losing US support, but using European support, which given Israel's location is more important for Israel economically.
I think the latter explanation makes more sense given that the deal was struck before Trump comes into office rather than right afterwards as it would if Netanyahu was trying to curry favor with the Trump people. It seems even Netanyahu wanted the Biden people in the room for the negotiations and not the Trump people.
But that is just a guess, and this situation doesn't seem to translate well into other areas. There is no basis here for thinking a deal will follow in Ukraine, or that Panama, Greenland/Denmark, Canada, or Mexico will tremble under Trump's buffoonery. I think the only fear here is that Trump's general incompetence will make problems hard to solve.
There is no basis here indeed for thinking deals will follow re Ukraine and Greenland, but I think they will for other reasons. Ukraine cannot win the war and neither can Russia. But Ukraine also cannot survive it for long, nor can it join Nato as long as missiles hit it which Russia can keep up forever. A deal will, I think, be easy peasy with Russia keeping Crimea, Donbas and some other areas it occupies. As for Greenland, its value is immense and its population is both tiny and low-income. The US doesn't even have to offer it a deal it can't refuse; it can offer it one it doesn't want to refuse. If the Greenland population wants to join or associate with the US, Denmark can't prevent it. I think Trump can and will simply buy it. But not from Denmark.
“The US doesn't even have to offer it a deal it can't refuse; it can offer it one it doesn't want to refuse.”
Denmark sends something like $500m every year to support Greenland’s 60,000 residents with Nordic level welfare benefits. That’s like $8k for every man, woman and child. There is no way the US can offer a better deal than that. I doubt we even spend $8k per capita on Puerto Rico, outside of limited time only disaster relief efforts.
probably more like $8 per capita plus free Trump Towels 🙁
Greenland had 60000 people. We could easily offer them 100k per year for 10 years. Greenland would be a steal for 60B.
Not a guess. I think you're right on the mark. Good post!
I hate to say this but I think it was Trump. Analysts have said it was also, or especially, Netanyahu's greater freedom of action after his (for-now) successes in Lebanon and Syria and the Likud split-off Sa'ara joining the govt coalition, making it harder for Ben Gvir or Smotrich to bring it down. Hamas is not a factor because this deal is virtually identical to ones they accepted earlier, going back as far as May. Biden/Blinken were not a factor either because they accept anything Netanyahu does. So it's the other things. Plus Trump.
Apparently Netanyahu was stunned by Trump's envoy insisting on a ceasefire before the inauguration. But Trump unlike Biden when he has power uses it. This was akin to Reagan's phone call to the Israeli PM about Beirut. The bombing thereof stopped an hour later. That's how much power the US president can have over Israel if he chooses to use it..
Ukraine will be next. Peace I mean. Biden was so unwilling to face reality, Trump will start with wo major foreign policy triumphs almost handed to him on a platter. That won't be good. But at least Gaza and Ukraine will see their suffering reduced.
Kinda agree, and I hate to admit it too
I think Hamas figured something before the 20th, would be better than a post 20th IDF blitz with Tubby cheering them on, and letting NATO know that US continued support was contingent on their siding with Bibi at the UN
A question for me is- After Bibi gets the hostages back, how long will he keep the truce?
Another question- What physiological shape will people be in after 15 months in a tunnel. Even Hanoi Hilton prisoners saw some daylight and starlight
There will be no "peace" in Ukraine, because while they are indeed weary of war and angry with the West for slow-playing them with advanced weapons they HATE Russians with an incandescent fury for the brutality of the war Putin has waged on them. The Russians haven't honored any agreement with any country in the West since 2015, and the people leading Ukraine know it.
Trump was supposed to end the Ukraine war the minute he got elected.
The deal is essentially the same one Netanyahu refused to accept last spring, right? Now that his continued pounding of Gaza with US backing has achieved the desired election result (by lowering D enthusiasm), he was then free to accept the agreement -- and close enough to the inauguration that Trump gets to take credit for a "promise fulfilled."
Hadn't thought of that but yeah, if his continued and increasingly pointless hammering of Gaza was to help Trump win, he can stop now. I forgot that some commentators predicted this would happen already before the election. No matter who won, Gaza wouldn't be needed anymore to influence it.
It remains to be seen though if there was not an additional deal, like "you agree to a ceasefire in Gaza and I give you the West Bank". My distrust of both Bibi and Donald are total.
Alright, the new normal has been reached. Will it be another 20 years of slow-motion genocide after this little spurt of good-and-hard genocide?
Stay tuned.
Could have had it a long time ago if Biden had been willing to put the screws to Israel, instead of tut tutting and then giving them everything they want. Israel treats us as a client state, and they're not wrong.
I'm curious how he's supposed to cut off aid to Israel given a Congress and many members of his own party opposing such a move, especially with Israel under threat from Iran. Bottom line is the admin worked it's ass off to try and get a ceasefire and did so to try and stop the killing. It's not their fault too many parties were stupidly invested in war
I wondered if "ceasefire" was a euphemism for "cessation of the IDF hunting down Palestinians who can no longer fight back", but apparently not. In fact Hamas has reportedly increased its strength significantly in recent months (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-835754) and IDF combat deaths have ticked up from the level of early 2024 (https://www.gov.il/en/pages/swords-of-iron-idf-casualties).
Netanyahu may, therefore, have been concerned that the conflict would cause increasing problems for his government as time went on. Trump's election was a convenient excuse to call a halt.
Unsurprisingly, I am against this Ceasefire....which literally only means the war starts again later. Duh...
I want to see Peace, I want to see Hamas and all Palestinians abjure the Hamas Charter, I want Hamas to formally surrender and make an explicit promise to try to become the Singapore, the Monaco, the Bahrain, or any of the other fully sovereign countries with the same or smaller physical size of Gaza and equal their success also.
People that recommend some kind of aggressive revenge by the children in Gaza for the death of their parents are only ensuring the death of these currently young children and then their children at a later date.
I have tried to give the starkest answer possible because this is about the last of many chances for the Palestinians to screw themselves over royally again or....one would hope and learn that such self abuse is useless, foolish and deadly.
They should chose a different path...and while abjuring, the should distance themselves permanently and forever from UNRWA (I give nothing but good advice). Best Wishes, Traveller
The real solution, sad to say, is permanent separation. With Gaza rendered uninhabitable, it should be evacuated. There is no other way to have peace. Of course, that’s not going to happen. I guess all those headlines will be proven wrong. Gaza is a fine place to live! .
I have to disagree, Justin...there was permanent separation in 2006, Israeli Riots, Israeli Police arresting scores of want-to-be Israeli settlers.
People that say Gaza is an open air prison are just lying...there is no prison that is so porous that there are 10,000 missiles inside with one Million rounds of AK 47 rounds with assorted mines and explosives...a damned poor prison Gaza was.
This is why I am so disappointed with the Philadelphi Corridor apparently being given up by Israel...there must be a stop of the flow of arms into Gaza...not so much for Israel as for Palestinians.
Hamas is out in the streets firing off their weapons, celebrating their historic victory over Israel...they need to be disarmed. Traveller
So your view is that the Palestinians should ignore reality and pretend that Israel actually wants peace? The Singapore of the middle east is perhaps the stupidest metaphor existent given that when Israel pulled out of Gaza it punished Gaza by refusing to let goods produced in Gaza to leave the territory. Obviously Singapore would not be the Singapore of Southeast Asia if a foreign country controlled its borders in that way.
Your idea is that the Palestinians should accept the peace that Israel isn't offering. That says a lot about you and absolutely nothing about the Palestinians.
Certainly, this says a lot about me...I am for peace, wisdom and life...other people are in favor or more death and more dead children.
I am good living with this being my position.
I would like to remind everyone here that peace agreements were put in place 30 years ago: The Oslo I Accord of 1993 and the Oslo II Accord of 1995. Who (besides me) remembers what happened next? A young Israeli law student assassinated Rabin, the prime minister of Israel who signed the accords. The assassin did this because he, like everyone in the settler movement (though the assassin was not a settler himself), was radically opposed to any sort of peace settlement. He believed that every square foot of Palestine belongs to the descendants of Jews who voluntarily left Palestine 2000 years ago rather than the descendants of the Jews who never left.
The Israelis have gotten the message. If a prime minister dares to talk peace he will be killed by an Israeli citizen.
You know it is bad when even Mother Jones is willing to repeat Trumpblather without criticism:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/ceasefire-israel-hamas-deal-gaza-palestine/
It's "we" now, after January 20th it'll change to "me". I'm surprised he hasn't started using it. Always taking credit when none is due.
From NPR: "Netanyahu delays ceasefire vote, claiming Hamas created a 'last minute crisis'". Is Netanyahu trying to delay the ceasefire till after the 20th?
I'm still waiting for the deal to go through. No one has even signed anything save perhaps a memo of understanding. The deal has a lot of moving parts.