"Seems Trump really doing Netanyahu a favour": US Foreign Policy Analyst on Israel-Hamas peace deal

US President Trump on Wednesday announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a peace plan, which would end the war in Gaza with a ceasefire and return of hostages. It comes two years after the Hamas fighters crossed Gaza on October 7, 2023, and killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel, and took over 250 people as hostage. In Israel's counterattack since then, more than 67,000 people have died in Gaza.

In an interview with ANI, the analyst said, "They have signed on to at least the first step here. And that first step, they say, is turning over all the hostages in exchange for Israeli withdrawal. Of course, Israel holds most of the cards there. We'll see just how far they're willing to withdraw."

Horton noted that much will depend on the seriousness of President Trump's approach to enforcing a ceasefire and ensuring Israel follows through. "We'll see just how serious Donald Trump is at letting the Israelis know that he means it this time, and they'd better really cease fire and see through," he said.

Interpreting the broader implications of the deal, Horton told ANI, "I think one interpretation of the situation that I think probably holds up best is that this is a lifeline that Trump is throwing Netanyahu because, in fact, he cannot accomplish his stated goal of obliterating and completely destroying Hamas."

Horton further added, "It seems like this is Trump really doing Netanyahu a favour and saying, Listen, you might as well quit now because you're not really getting anywhere on this thing at this point."

Further, Horton cautioned that a second war between Iran and Israel could soon erupt, describing the recent conflict as only a temporary pause in hostilities.

"I think that the so-called 12-day war is really probably only an intermission," Horton said while discussing the regional situation."

Explaining the reasons for renewed tensions, Horton said that President Trump's approach toward Iran's nuclear activities has further escalated the situation. "The problem is that Trump has accepted Israel's bogus definition of Iran's civilian nuclear program as a nuclear weapons program," he noted.

Horton referred to comments by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has clarified that Iran is not attempting to develop nuclear weapons. "You might remember where people cited the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, as saying Iran has not broken out and begun an attempt to obtain a nuclear weapon. And if they did, they'd be more than a year away," Horton said.

However, he pointed out that Trump dismissed such intelligence findings. "Someone brought that up to Trump, and he said, Well, I don't care what she says. So, in other words, he is not going by what they are literally doing; essentially, he is going by Israel's redefinition of terms, which is to say that to have a nuclear programme at all is equivalent to essentially filling in the dots, is the same thing as them making nuclear weapons," Horton added. (ANI)