Trump stuck in Gaza without a plan

Alameen Templeton

He’s never even tasted a second of Hell during his pampered, billionaire life, but that’s not stopping serial real estate developer Donald Trump from threatening the same on Gazans if Hamas remains out of the Gaza truce.

Hamas announced Monday it was postponing the deal due to repeated Israeli violations. It said the captive exchange set for February 15 is on ice until further notice.

Trump is incensed and is threatening “all hell is going to break out” if the Israeli captives are not released on schedule this coming Saturday.

Dark, empty threats

Asked what that meant, Trump replied: “You’ll find out, and they’ll find out – Hamas will find out what I mean.”
His golden promises are turning to excrement in his hands and he’s not even three weeks into the job – his famous “normalization” deal is dead in the water; his promise to “get the job done” is starting to look like a marathon, not a sprint; and now he’s threatening to upend the very peace deal the Israeli’s gave him as an election “present” because he knows that’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention any way.

And he knows allowing the Israeli fuhrer to upend the Gaza apple cart – again – effectively means Netanyahu is still, effectively, in control of US foreign policy. Allowing that to continue means he’s handcuffed, a prisoner, to Netanyahu’s whims.

Now it seems he’s decided to take over killing the Palestinians himself instead of leaving it in Bib’s hands, but he’ll find such a deal a hard sell, even to Americans.

People are likening him to “Jesus” and he likes that Messianic fervour; there’s no way he can allow Netanyahu to prick that bubble like he did Biden’s for the duration of the genocide.

The mainstream media is avoiding outlining the Israeli ceasefire violations, creating doubt about the elected Palestinians government’s statement.

Truce violations piling up

But Hamas included them in its withdrawal statement and they are:

• Delays in the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza;
• Targeting Palestinians with airstrikes and gunfire—resulting in the killing of tens across the Strip; and
• Obstructing the entry of essential shelter materials such as tents, prefabricated homes, fuel, and rubble removal equipment needed to retrieve bodies.

An unidentified Hamas leader outlined other violations to Al-Mayadeen Tuesday. They include the continued, daily presence of reconnaissance drones over Gaza, Israeli stormtroopers continue firing without provocation on civilians, tanks have trespassed beyond their permitted red lines, and the Zionazis continue hindering the entrance of desperately needed heavy equipment to move rubble and medical supplies to the enclave.

Reading the messages on the wind, Hamas says it is clear the Israelis have no intention of honouring the next stages of the ceasefire and are preparing to attack again as soon as the last hostages are handed over.

Hence, its refusal to do so this coming Saturday.

Hamas and the Israeli public know the hostage issue is hurting Netanyahu the most at home. That’s why the settlers are rampaging through the West Bank with Trump’s blessing, why Netanyahu knows his unpopularity won’t die down, why Bibi remains chained to right-wing fanatics accompanying him on his road to perdition.

Ace up Hamas’ sleeve

The hostages are the one remaining ace up Hamas’s sleeve and it’s not going to hand it over for free.

So, Agent Orange is throwing his toys out of the cot because everything he’s touching in the Arabia is turning to dust in his hands. And the faster he talks, the faster it blows away.

He’s lost his golden touch. Hell, even his hair has lost its lustre and is now the same dead-white as Biden’s.

The Arabs aren’t the same like last time. He could call up MBS and order him to restrict the oil pumps to push up the price of petrol. Hey presto! Trump got what he wanted. “Gimme some normalization, man!” And there’s the Arabs lining up to shake the hand.

“Sh!th0le countries” didn’t throw out the marines and shut down bases, like they’re doing in West Africa, last time he was POTUS.

Now, even Al-Sisi of Egypt won’t sign up to his Gaza relocation deal. “King” Hussein of Jordan is threatening to declare war if the Zionazis in Tel Aviv and the White House expel West Bank residents across the border.

Trump claimed last Tuesday the Saudis were no longer insisting on a Palestine state as a precondition to “normalization”. It didn’t take long for his erstwhile allies to shoot down that statement, revealing Trump as isolated and exposed on the world stage.

UAE dark horse

That’s a feeling he’ll have to get used to if he’s going to keep Netanyahu as his chief Arabian ally.

But he still has one dark horse to fall back on: Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the boss of a few corporate states – ringfenced oil fields, really – known as the UAE.

Al Nahyan has been a stand-out enforcer of the US’s “war on terror” and will probably emerge as Trump’s nascent ally in the region. The UAE is now a “favoured defence ally” of the US; an appellation only one other country, India, has achieved.

That’s thanks to a bloodthirsty commitment to carrying out “wet ops” that venture far beyond the bounds of international legality on behalf of the US.

So, the UAE was instrumental in the formation and funding of ISIS in Iraq, Syria and beyond, it is enforcing the rule of warlord Khalifa Haftar in Eastern Libya and is behind the murderous rebellion of the SRF in Sudan.

And the UAE is already preparing for an enforcement role in Gaza to protect Israel.

Tripping up on ‘normalization’

It agreed in principle two weeks ago to take up “responsibility” for Gaza’s post-war management, overseeing reconstruction and “neutralising any potential threats” to Israel.

But, it also stressed that Abu Dhabi would not “not participate in any plan that fails to include significant reform of the Palestinian Authority, its empowerment, and the establishment of a credible roadmap toward a Palestinian state”.

There’s that “Palestinian state” precondition again, taking Trump back to isolated and exposed Square One; he’s not even out of the starting block and even the block is starting to crumble.

Agent Orange will have to conjure up a plan soon, because Gaza and the Palestinians won’t just “go away”, like he’s hoping.