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What Will This Ceasefire Actually Accomplish?
Supporters of Israeli hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, react to news on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, during a protest to demand a deal to bring every hostage home, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
And just like that, a ceasefire is signed. But don’t be fooled — this is no grand peace deal. It’s a pause, a fragile truce held together by the thinnest of threads, with hostilities ready to reignite at the slightest provocation.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas paves the way for a prisoner-hostage exchange and a limited repositioning of Israeli forces in and around the Gaza Strip. In the first phase, Hamas and its allied militant factions will release 33 hostages — civilians, female soldiers, children, the elderly, and the sick. In return, Israel will release approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, prioritizing those arrested after October 8, 2023, but not directly involved in the October 7 massacre.
The final deal was announced on Wednesday, and the reactions were telling. What struck me most about the response was this: before the ink on the ceasefire agreement had even dried, before it was even signed, before a single hostage was returned, before either side had even a moment to exhale, Hamas was already declaring “victory.”
And not just any victory. According to Khalil al-Hayya — one of Hamas’ senior leaders, who, from the comfort of his five-star luxury hotel in Qatar, helped negotiate the ceasefire — this was a “historic moment.”
Israel, he claimed, had been “defeated,” and Hamas had “thwarted” all of Israel’s goals. And then, the crowning statement: he called October 7 — a day of unfathomable horror, of murder, rape, and devastation, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust — “a military accomplishment” and “a source of pride for the Palestinian people.”
And no sooner had al-Hayya issued his triumphant declaration than the celebrations in Gaza began.
Images quickly circulated of Gazans celebrating, flashing victory signs as if they had just won the World Cup. Gunfire rattled into the air, sweets were handed out, Hamas banners waved triumphantly, and chants of “Allahu Akbar” echoed through the streets.
Elated men shouted, “We are the men of Mohammed Deif” — a reference to the elusive Hamas military chief, mastermind of the October 7 massacre, who was assassinated by Israel during the war — and “Hail the Al-Qassam Brigades,” Hamas’s armed wing.
Never mind that Gaza is in ruins. Never mind that they have no economy, no security, and no functioning government. Never mind that they live at the mercy of whichever warlord holds the biggest gun this week. To them, somehow, this is a victory.
Some might look at this reaction — Palestinian defiance in the face of devastation — and see incredible resilience. How is it possible, after so much suffering, that the Palestinians can still claim victory? Surely, these people are unbreakable.
And yet, if you ask me, precisely this so-called “victory” mindset is their greatest weakness.
Hamas — and every Palestinian movement before them for over a century — have somehow convinced themselves that they never lose. No matter how catastrophic their situation becomes, they tell themselves they are winning as long as they keep fighting. They see this defiance as their superpower.
But in reality, it is their curse, their main source of weakness. It is why, after nearly eight decades of Israel’s existence, the Palestinians still have no state, no real control over their lives, and no future beyond endless war and unbearable suffering.
And if you think about it, we’ve seen this kind of delusional bravado before — at the dawn of Jewish history. This week, in synagogues across the world, we begin reading the Book of Exodus — the epic story of the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt, their miraculous redemption, and the downfall of the mighty Egyptian Pharaoh.
Remarkably, Pharaoh was the original “never surrender” guy. He endured devastating plague after devastating plague — but still refused to yield. The entire country’s water supply turned to blood? No surrender. Frogs, lice, wild beasts, disease, locusts, and darkness? Still, no surrender.
And even after the final, most horrifying plague — the death of every Egyptian firstborn — when Pharaoh finally appeared to relent, he almost immediately regretted it and led his army in a desperate chase after the Israelites. Why? Because Pharaoh, like Hamas, and like the Palestinian leadership for the past century, believed that refusing to admit defeat was his greatest strength.
And how did that work out for him? The Midrash (Mechilta Beshalach 7:6) makes an extraordinary comment on the verse “Not one of them remained” (Ex. 14:28), which refers to the Egyptian army after they drowned in the Red Sea.
The verse’s curious Hebrew phraseology — lo nish’ar bahem, ad echad — suggests that when the Red Sea came crashing down, wiping out the most powerful army of the ancient world, there was, in fact, one Egyptian left standing. And guess who it was—Pharaoh himself. His entire army had been obliterated, his state-of-the-art war chariots lay shattered like broken toys, strewn among the lifeless bodies of his soldiers, and he was left utterly alone—defeated, humiliated, and stripped of everything.
Some say he drowned himself in despair. Others say he wandered off and eventually became the King of Nineveh, where, in the story of Jonah, he finally learned his lesson — immediately repenting at the first warning.
Either way, the image is striking: Pharaoh, standing alone on the shore, watching as the remnants of his once-mighty army washed up as lifeless corpses around him. The chariots that once symbolized his military dominance now lay around him, shattered and useless. If only he had admitted reality earlier. If only he had understood that his so-called strength was, in fact, his ultimate downfall.
And now, here we are, thousands of years later, watching Hamas make the exact same mistake. They refuse to surrender, so they keep losing. They refuse to admit they are beaten, so they remain in ruins. They refuse to acknowledge that their strategy of endless war has led them nowhere, so they stay trapped in a cycle of devastation — at the mercy of men like Khalil al-Hayya, who sits safely in Qatar, sipping over-sugared tea and proclaiming their “victory” from the comfort of his luxury exile, all while his Qatari patrons continue to bankroll his delusions.
The Jewish people, by contrast, know how to move forward. We understand that survival isn’t about blind defiance, it’s about considered wisdom. It’s about knowing when to fight and when to build. Real strength isn’t found in empty bravado that leads to inevitable self-destruction; it’s found in adapting, persevering, and creating a future worth living for.
Hamas looks to Pharaoh as a role model, but they should see him for what he truly was — a cautionary tale. They keep playing the same game, telling themselves they are winning, all while their world crumbles around them. They celebrate as they sink, clinging to defiance instead of recalibrating for a better future. In the end, just like Pharaoh, they will be left standing alone on the shore, watching the wreckage of their own making.
Instead of noisy victory parades, the Palestinians need to confront the reality of their defeat. Only then can they begin the hard work of building a future that is better than the misery they inhabit now. The sooner they wake up to this reality, the better — for their sake and everyone else’s.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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