By Sharren Haskel

I write not as a politician or diplomat, but as an Israeli mother - a child and grandchild of survivors, shaped by my people’s centuries of persecution, expulsions, and existential struggle.

My grandparents survived the Holocaust; others were forced from their homes in the Middle East; I served as a combat soldier in the IDF during the Second Intifada. Growing up in Israel and bringing my three little girls up here too, I know a genuine peace must be grounded in strength, moral clarity, and real deterrence - not mere words or symbolism. That’s why what President Trump has achieved in the Middle East is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

As Israelis, nothing matters more right now than bringing every hostage home and securing a ceasefire that ends the bloodshed for good. In a development that has the potential to alter the course of this tragic two-year war, a U.S.-brokered agreement - championed publicly by President Trump - has produced a first phase that calls for a near-term pause in fighting, the release of the remaining hostages from Gaza within days, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from much of the Gaza Strip as part of an orderly pullback.

Under the deal’s initial timetable, all of our hostages are to be freed within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking hold, in exchange for the release of Palestinian........

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