The biggest story of the week, by far -- and that is saying something -- is the ceasefire deal struck between Israel and Hamas.
President Donald Trump announced the deal earlier this week, while also recognizing the many moving parts involvedd and lauding those who helped make it all happen.
Thursday night, the deal was officially put into play, a development which will hopefully signify the beginning of the end of this war.
Trump broke the news of the agreement on Truth Social, posting, "I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed-upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
The statement continued, “All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!"
The significance of the deal could not be overstated, and many were suggesting that Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for leading the negotiations.
Trump was, however, snubbed by the Nobel committee, or at least that is how the White House took it. In reality, submissions for this year's honor were closed out back in January, so Trump should be a frontrunner for the 2026 award, especially if he secures a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine before Jan. 31, 2026, which is the next nomination submission deadline.
I can count on one hand how many times I have seen Israelis and Palestinians celebrating together, but it happened this week.
After the peace deal was announced, social media was flooded with videos of people expressing their happiness and optimism for the future.
In Palestine, they were shouting, “Donald Trump! Donald Trump!” In Israel, they were yelling, “Nobel Prize to Trump.”
Again, this is a monumental accomplishment for the president, but it did not make him eligible for this year's prize, which is the reason he did not receive it. Next year, the committee has no excuses.
At 12:00 pm local time, the ceasefire deal officially went into effect, giving Hamas 72 hours after a 24-hour countdown to release all remaining hostages in the first stage of the deal.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote, "Following the political echelon’s instructions and due to the situational assessment, the IDF has begun operational preparations ahead of the implementation of the agreement."
The statement continued, “As part of this process, preparations and a combat protocol are underway to transition to adjusted deployment lines soon. The IDF continues to be deployed in the area and prepared for any operational development.”
If Hamas lives up to its part of the deal, the hostages should be on their way home no later than Tuesday, but that remains to be seen. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but we know we cannot trust terror organizations, and we have seen these deals fall apart before. I am hoping and praying that will not happen here, and that this war will finally be over.
