Now is the time of hope. With American support, Israel has accepted the most difficult gamble: to risk its security, its current government and even its very identity as the unbeatable Jewish state, to test the possibility of an end to the Gaza war after almost two years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with extraordinary courage, has staked his place in history. Like his soldiers, whom he praised for their heroism, he now fights on another battlefield—one of diplomacy, compromise and unrelenting danger.
The test is immediate and severe. Within 72 hours, Hamas must return all hostages, alive and dead. Only then will it become clear whether the terrorist group truly accepts U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan. If Hamas betrays it, Netanyahu has promised to finish the job and destroy its power once and for all.
The plan is as ambitious as it is perilous: Israel has agreed to a three-phase withdrawal, to hand Gaza over to a mixed international authority led by the United States but with Arab nations at the center—once Hamas is dismantled.
It requires Hamas to surrender its strategic weapons, the missiles and explosives with which it has tormented Israel for years. And it forces painful concessions, including the release of prisoners who have committed horrific crimes.
Notably, the word “annexation” has disappeared from the table. Israel has set it aside, at least for now. The focus is elsewhere: on saving lives, on securing its southern communities, on ensuring that never again will Hamas terrorize Israeli families living near the Gaza border.
Trump, meanwhile, has pushed hard on both Hamas and the Arab world, offering to expand the Abraham Accords and again raising the prospect of a Palestinian state. On that point, Netanyahu is firm: only after a long, serious process of de-radicalization can such an idea even be considered.
For Israel, this is a leap into the unknown. The challenge is immense: to reach an accord with those who still preach jihadist ideology, without surrendering or backtracking, but while keeping open a path toward peace.
Words have filled the air for years. Now, what matters are deeds: the release of the hostages, a verifiable withdrawal that leaves strong security zones, Hamas handing over its weapons and the stance of the Arab states.
Netanyahu has embraced compromise not as weakness but as the virtue of the strong. If the hostages come home, they will open the road to history. If Hamas truly yields, it will mark an unprecedented victory not only for Israel but for the free world.
The joint strength of Israel and the United States may—just may—make the impossible possible.
