Special to WorldTribune.com

By John J. Metzler, October 14, 2025

Many years ago, a senior British diplomat told a few of us UN correspondents outside the Security Council, and I paraphrase, “That no matter what you see transpiring in the Middle East, it’s never wise to base one’s career on predictions of the outcome.” So, I’m holding to his advice.

A combination of persistent American diplomacy, Israeli tenacity and the quiet concert and agreement of many moderate Arab countries have led to President Donald Trump’s amazing Gaza Peace Deal.  The Hostages are free, and the guns have fallen silent.

Not only has Hamas been seriously battered (I hesitate to say vanquished) but their political/military patrons in Teheran have been jolted into reality.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is not broken either, but the Mullah regime is teetering.

Devastating American and Israeli air strikes against Iran’s nuclear research facilities made a most convincing case. U.S. prestige and might then set the stage for diplomatic negotiations.

Following the terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Hamas signed its death warrant.

Hamas started it.  Israel would finish it.  Yet the determination of the Hamas enemy was probably stronger than anybody assumed even among the battle-hardened Israelis.

Tragically the price of peace has fallen on Gaza’s Palestinian civilians caught in the endless crossfire of conflict, chaos and carnage.

Equally Israel is domestically divided and diplomatically isolated.

The United States knew the shooting had to stop and the clock reset in turbulent Gaza.  But first a ceasefire followed by Hamas’ returning 20 living Israeli hostages and the remains of as many as 28 hostages. Israel released 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of them serving life sentences.

Using personal pressures and political incentives President Trump had to keep Israel close but then reach out to moderate Arabs.

At the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly, Trump convened a meeting with Arab-and Muslim-majority (Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan) nations to sell his 20-point peace plan.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that’s where Trump “created this coalition” before he pitched his proposal to Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Trump brokered the peace agreement and pressured Prime Minister Netanyahu to seal the deal.

Gaza has become an Apocalyptic urban moonscape along the Mediterranean and a tragic metaphor, which has mobilized and radicalized international political support but has nonetheless led the Palestinians down a blind alley.

Importantly the U.S. Peace Plan will stop the shooting and the interminable shifting of civilian populations within Gaza and allow for a rush of overdue UN humanitarian supplies to pour into the desolate enclave.

The leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom issued a statement on the peace deal; “We pay tribute to President Trump’s leadership on the issue, to the diplomatic efforts of the mediators, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres commended, “I urge all parties to fully abide by the terms of the agreement, and to fully embrace the opportunities it presents. All hostages must be released in a dignified manner. A permanent ceasefire must be secured.  The bloodshed must stop once and for all.”

Securing a solid and sustainable ceasefire, followed by a humanitarian flood of assistance is the first step in a long process.

Significantly the entire Arab world supports this deal, twisting Hamas’ arm to make it happen, and thus creating conditions which diminish the regional political pressure-cooker of the ongoing Palestinian conflict.

The first phase was key to stop the clock. The Second step involves disarmament of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza, and uprooting Islamist terrorist groups.

Gaza may be slowly rebuilt. Massive funding from Saudi Arabia and the oil rich Arab Gulf sheikdoms, such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar can afford reconstruction for what they will call their “Arab brothers.” I would assume Turkish heavy construction companies will help with the task; Note Turkish President Erdogan has been part of the peace plan.

The Palestinian Authority government which was long ago pushed out of Gaza by the more militant Iranian-backed Hamas, will try to re-assert its fragile authority.

During his whirlwind visit to the Mideast in the wake of the hostage release, President Trump delivered an powerful address amid rapturous applause in the Israeli Knesset, thanking the Arab and Muslim countries that pressured Hamas to free the hostages. “Now at least, not only for Israel, but also for Palestinians and many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over,” he promised.

It’s a Big win for American diplomacy despite the naysayers.  The President exhibits a sense of urgency to keep the momentum going in his diplomatic dealings.

Israel has won a Pyrrhic victory on the perilous path to peace.  Shalom, Salaam, Peace!

John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of Divided Dynamism the Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China (2014). [See pre-2011 Archives]

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