Two years after the eruption of the Al-Aqsa Flood – the event that plunged Gaza, Israel, and the wider Middle East into yet another devastating war – the region stands at a critical crossroads. What began as a calculated act of defiance by Hamas on that fateful October morning has spiraled into one of the most consequential conflicts in the modern Middle East. Tens of thousands are dead, entire neighborhoods have been erased, and political maps have been redrawn. Now, two years later, the war’s supposed endgame has emerged not from Tel Aviv or Gaza City, but from Washington – where Donald Trump, the returning “general of the global village,” has unveiled his plan to end the war and reshape the region once again in America’s image.

Trump’s ceasefire proposal, backed by the promise of overwhelming force, sets out an ambitious sequence: an immediate cessation of hostilities, a comprehensive prisoner and hostage exchange, and a subsequent framework to determine Gaza’s future governance. The end goal, according to Trump, is not only to stop the bloodshed but to “pave the way toward a permanent peace and a two-state solution.” It is a statement as sweeping as it is fraught with contradictions, for it arrives in a region that has been scarred by decades of broken promises and fleeting truces.

It is no coincidence that Trump’s reemergence as the chief broker of Middle Eastern peace comes at this precise moment. After years of global turbulence and shifting alliances, Washington once again finds itself reclaiming its role as arbiter, disciplinarian, and benefactor. The United States, having pumped billions in military aid into Israel since the first rockets flew from Gaza, now feels justified in demanding restraint – or, at least, obedience.

Trump’s message was blunt. If Hamas rejects the deal, he warned, it will “face all hell.” For Benjamin Netanyahu, the calculation is more complex. The Israeli prime minister, a master of political survival, knows full well that he owes much of his government’s longevity to unwavering American support. He also knows the cost of crossing an American........

© Blitz