In recent days, the first publicly reported  meeting between Hamas representatives and President Trump’s newly established Board of Peace (BoP) took place in Cairo. In high-stakes diplomacy, inaugural meetings are typically “get-to-know-you” sessions. However, the current landscape—marked by genocide in Gaza and a simultaneous offensive against Iran—does not allow for the luxury of diplomatic niceties.

While specifics of the discussion remain shrouded in secrecy, the core tension is clear:

Hamas has reportedly delivered a blunt ultimatum. Either the Rafah crossing—the sole, battered lifeline between an obliterated Gaza Strip and Egypt—is fully reopened, or the group will walk away from the ceasefire altogether.

Hamas has reportedly delivered a blunt ultimatum. Either the Rafah crossing—the sole, battered lifeline between an obliterated Gaza Strip and Egypt—is fully reopened, or the group will walk away from the ceasefire altogether.

This demand exposes the fundamental “cheating” at the heart of the Trump administration’s regional strategy: holding the title of “Peace Chairman” in Washington while acting as a “War Commander” in the skies over Tehran. Meanwhile, the peace Trump has boasted about in Gaza remains invisible to those on the ground; the ceasefire has never been truly respected by his Israeli partner, Benjamin Netanyahu, leaving the BoP looking less like a diplomatic body and more like a tactical smokescreen for further escalation.

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The very premise of launching a war of aggression against Iran—orchestrated through an “unholy coalition” between the Trump administration and Israel—leaves the Hamas leadership with little, if any, incentive to trust the BoP or its envoys. This skepticism is not merely ideological; it is a rational response to a strategy that preaches “regional stability” while simultaneously decapitating regional powers. For Hamas, the words of the BoP ring hollow when the same administration providing “peace” mediators is also providing the ordnance for Operation Epic Fury. Furthermore, the expectation of good faith is shattered when one of the primary partners in this peace project is Benjamin Netanyahu—a man for whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for alleged war crimes in Gaza. When the “peace” being offered is brokered by those accused of genocide and those actively widening the theater of war, Hamas views the BoP not as a diplomatic bridge, but as a trap designed to secure their disarmament while the region burns.

This crisis of confidence is further exacerbated by the blatant contradiction of Trump’s dual roles: acting as the “Chairman for Life” of the BoP while simultaneously serving as the Commander-in-Chief behind Operation Epic Fury. Launched on 28th February 2026, this massive military campaign against Iran—which has already claimed thousands of lives, including school children, and decimated the Iranian leadership—exposes the BoP as a tactical instrument of “cheating” rather than a genuine vessel for peace.

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While Trump boasted in Davos of a new era of regional prosperity, he was simultaneously coordinating the most aggressive bombing campaign in modern Middle Eastern history. For those in Gaza, the ‘peace’ Trump advertised is a ghost; it is a ceasefire that exists only on paper in Washington, while on the ground, his partner Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently disregarded its terms, treating it as a mere ‘declarative move’ while maintaining a suffocating siege. By holding the gavel of the BoP in one hand and the throttle of a regional war in the other, Trump has effectively turned the pursuit of peace into a supervisory board for surrender through illegal regime change in Iran.

This strategy of “cheating” is not confined to the halls of Davos or the meeting rooms of Cairo; it is written in the blood of civilians across the region. While the BoP markets  a $115 billion “reconstruction” dream for Gaza, the reality of Operation Epic Fury has turned the Middle East into a theatre of unprecedented carnage. The 28th February strike on a school in Minab, Iran—which left over 160 civilians dead—serves as a grim testament to the administration’s true priorities. In this landscape, the BoP acts not as a shield for the vulnerable, but as a diplomatic “heat sink,” designed to absorb regional outrage and keep Arab partners at the table while the US and Israel pursue a total military reshaping of the map.

By the time the BoP is ready to discuss “investments” in Gaza, there may be little left to invest in but the ruins of a region dismantled under the guise of stability.

By the time the BoP is ready to discuss “investments” in Gaza, there may be little left to invest in but the ruins of a region dismantled under the guise of stability.

This crisis of confidence is not merely ideological; it is a rational response to a strategy that preaches ‘regional stability’ while simultaneously decapitating regional powers. For the leadership in Gaza, the BoP’s technocratic promises of reconstruction are a cruel irony when the same ‘Peace Chairman’ is authorizing the destruction of civilian infrastructure across the region. Trust has become a luxury that the decimated streets of Gaza and the burning outskirts of Tehran can no longer afford; in its place, a hardened resolve has emerged that views any ‘peace deal’ originating from Washington as a blueprint for eventual liquidation.

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