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Last Thursday, President Trump announced that his Board of Peace had achieved a “historic breakthrough” in which Hamas agreed to disarm and Israel agreed to withdraw from Gaza. It may seem that this happened months ago—not just four days ago, as I write this—because the deal has vanished from the headlines. There are two reasons why. First, so much has happened since then on other Middle East war fronts. Second, the agreement—which truly would be historic if it were true—turns out to have no basis in reality.

As posted on social media, the deal has the tonal earmarks of an official document. It bears a throat-clearing headline—“A Roadmap for Completing the Implementation of President Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan in Gaza”—followed by a detailed 15-point itinerary. But on scrutiny, there’s nothing meaningful in any of them.

There are two major shortcomings that keep it from carrying much more weight than a flawed first draft by a junior fellow at a minor think tank would. First, yes, it says Hamas must totally disarm and Israel must totally withdraw. But it doesn’t say who goes first, and leaders of both entities have since said they won’t move until the other side does.

Second, the document mentions several organizations that will monitor the procedure (perhaps in simultaneous phases), then step in to provide security, a police force, steps toward a civil society, and so forth. For example, Article 2 states:

The timetable and implementation mechanisms of this Roadmap … shall be prepared within 14 days after all parties approve the Roadmap, which could be extended by a decision by the International Verification Committee (IVC). … [Then]........

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