018 Current Events – Next next steps in Gaza

I’m frustrated by the ongoing stalemate over next steps in Gaza, where high-level talks involving Prime Minister Netanyahu, Jared Kushner, and U.S. representatives have hit a wall on advancing a 20-point plan—stage two can’t begin because Hamas refuses to fully disarm and surrender weapons, even after most hostages, living and deceased, have been returned. A recent discovery of around 200 armed Hamas fighters trapped in a tunnel inside Israel’s controlled zone has them pleading for U.S.-brokered negotiations to avoid capture or worse, but from Israel’s view, they should have laid down arms long ago as part of the deal. The U.S. is pushing hard for progress to unlock massive regional opportunities, like Saudi normalization and trillion-dollar deals, especially with the Crown Prince’s White House visit looming next week, yet Arab nations aren’t stepping up meaningfully, aid trucks are rolling in but Hamas is stealing much of it, and the lack of real pressure on the terror group is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of inaction—so the burning question remains: what meaningful path forward can break this cycle and finally move Gaza toward stability and peace?