While there is great celebration in Israel in the wake of the return of the 20 living hostages from the clutches of Hamas, the terrorist organization has not been disarmed and has vowed to continue its jihad against the Jewish state.
Though peace was celebrated on Monday, violence continues.
Hamas has executed “alleged collaborators” and has increased the public visibility of its fighters, Reuters reports.
For now, the show of power from a group the peace plan says will disarm, is aimed at rival militias, potential threats inside Gaza.
In a stark assertion of Hamas’ return, fighters executed men they accused of collaborating with Israeli forces. In one video circulated late on Monday, Hamas fighters dragged seven men into a circle of people in Gaza City, forced them to their knees and shot them from behind. A Hamas source confirmed the authenticity of the video, according to Reuters.
There is also concern about the influence of Qatar, which played a major role in getting Hamas to agree to release the hostages. It came at a high price; the 20 hostages were released in exchange for the mass release of very evil Islamic terrorists.
Still Trump has declared Israel's war with Hamas finished.
"I think the president's being wildly optimistic in a way that's not justified, and it's not even consistent with his previous positions. This is the man who said about nine or 10 years ago that Qatar was a big threat, a terrorist threat, and now he's working with them to bring about this supposed peace,” says Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch.
Spencer is convinced that there is not going to be peace in the region and that Trump’s advisers are failing him.
"What’s weird about it is that nobody around him is telling him,” Spencer said.
Conservative news media is also failing to present this part of the peace equation.
“Conservative news outlets that know about the truth … they’re so caught up with Trump against the Democrats that they don't want to say that he's wrong about this,” Spencer said.
Not so peaceful warning
Spencer is skeptical about Trump's comment late Tuesday signaling the possibility of the war’s return.
“If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently,” the president said during a White House meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei.
Trump needs to tone down the peace talk, Spencer said.
“Partisanship is partisanship, but the facts are the facts, and he is wrong about this, and there will not be peace. It's a shame that he's getting everybody's hopes up."
