Millions of hearts sang with joy on Monday as Israelis watched breathlessly while 20 living hostages returned home to their families and celebrated the historic visit of US President Donald Trump, whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed as a harbinger of peace.
The images of the freed hostages, some pale and emaciated, were a stark reminder of the horrors of October 7 and the two devastating years of war since. Yet, alongside Trump’s address in the Knesset, the day offered bright rays of hope for Israelis, the Middle East, and perhaps even the world that maybe, just maybe, there is a small chance for peace.
“Peace” is a big word in a region plagued by conflict and extremism. And while Trump has undoubtedly achieved much, especially with the follow-up summit in Sharm El-Sheikh bringing together numerous world leaders, the question remains whether the discussions and decisions now being made will consider the broader picture, or if they will, like many peace efforts before them, remain detached from the realities on the ground.
For the next edition of The Jerusalem Report, the Jerusalem Post’s flagship magazine, a group of top analysts explores the next stages of Trump’s peace plan, particularly as it relates to the next frontier: the West Bank.
“After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families, and it is glorious,” Trump said at the opening of his Knesset speech on Monday, adding, “28 more precious loved ones are coming home at last to rest in this sacred soil for all of time and after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger.”
“Today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” Trump continued.
Netanyahu echoed the theme of peace, calling on Trump to seize the moment for a “historic” expansion of the Abraham Accords. Quoting from Ecclesiastes, he noted that if the last two years were “a time for war,” then “the coming years are a time for peace.”
He declared that “Abraham’s children will come together,” extending his hand to “those who seek peace with us,” and asserting that “no one wants peace more than the people of Israel.”
Beyond the rousing applause and standing ovations in the Knesset, beyond the tear-jerking images of freed hostages and flag-waving crowds celebrating in the streets, lies a sobering question: after Gaza’s rebuilding, rehabilitation, and hopefully deradicalization, can there truly be peace between Israelis and Palestinians?
Basem Naim: Hamas not to disarm except under Palestinian state
On Sunday, the British outlet Sky News published a sobering interview with Hamas leader Bassem Naim. Several of his comments stood out, particularly his insistence that Hamas will not disarm except under a sovereign Palestinian state, and even more troubling, that the group cannot be dismantled due to its enduring popularity in the West Bank.
“We are ready to hand over the government. We are ready to be totally away from any government or governing body. But when it comes to Hamas as an entity, as a Palestinian Liberation Movement, I think no one can overcome or exclude Hamas,” said Naim, speaking from Doha, Qatar.
“Hamas is also present in the West Bank. Hamas is present in Jerusalem, in the diaspora. Therefore, Hamas is not only the government in Gaza,” he added. “And therefore, yes, we are ready to leave the government for a Palestinian body, but we are still there on the ground.”
Asked about disarming, Naim was emphatic: “Our weapons are going to be handed over only to the hands of a Palestinian state, and our fighters can be integrated into the Palestinian national army. Before that, no one has the right to deny us the right to resist the occupation (Israel) by all means.”
Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman now with the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called the West Bank the “next frontier.”
“Hamas is popular amongst Palestinians in Judea and Samaria,” he said, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names. “I think if elections were held today, I seriously doubt the capacity of the Palestinian Authority to win, and I think that Hamas would gain a significant, if not overwhelming, majority.”
Conricus, a regular contributor to The Jerusalem Report, emphasized that Israel is fighting “not only a military organization, but a terrorist organization,” and “is at the forefront of fighting the military embodiment of Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic radicalism.”
“We shouldn't confuse ourselves or be pacified by stories of peace that global leaders want because at the end of the day, we are dealing with an organization supported by people that believe in a binary end to the conflict, them controlling what they call Palestine and us, either dead or in the sea or subjugated under Muslim rule,” he said.
Michael Milshtein, head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at the Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, also points to instability in the West Bank. He argues that without addressing deeper issues, such as the Palestinian economy, the weakness of the current Palestinian leadership, and the internal politicking of Israel’s right wing, Israelis and Palestinians could end up in a one-state reality.
A short drive from Jerusalem into the West Bank reveals the growing volatility on the ground. Enabled and encouraged by the current far-right government, nearly every hilltop now contains a cluster of caravans or small settlement farms, where young Israelis say they are the new pioneers, strengthening Israel’s eastern frontier.
The Palestinian presence is shrinking and, according to local testimonies, being swallowed by expanding settlements while also suffering under a corrupt and weak Palestinian Authority that has left communities economically shattered and fearful of extremist influence.
Milshtein writes in The Report that “the future of the West Bank is no longer a distant problem, it is the central issue shaping Israel’s trajectory as a state.”
“It must be the main focus of the country’s next general election, where leaders need to clarify their position and present their vision: one state or two? Democratic or ethnonational? Coexistence or coercion?” he adds.
This issue must also be front and center on the world stage, where multiple leaders have carelessly declared recognition of a Palestinian state without ensuring a responsible process that leads both peoples toward a viable resolution.
Now, with a new peace framework in motion, it is essential that all leaders, including the self-styled President of Peace, pay close attention to the people and facts on the ground, and take that reality into account as the region turns a new, more hopeful page.