Veteran negotiator says US president deserves to win for Gaza ceasefire deal

Baskin, a progressive peace activist and two-state solution advocate, said Hamas was willing to accept a nearly identical deal more than a year ago, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to support an end to the war until Trump pressured him.

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“What we need to know is that this agreement could have been made a long time ago. Hamas agreed to the same terms in September 2024… but the response of Israeli negotiators at that point was that the prime minister did not accept an end to the war.”

Baskin, who went to Australia this year, led negotiations with Hamas regarding Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in 2006 and released as part of a prisoner swap in 2011.

Asked whether Trump deserved the award, Wong told Sky News the peace deal he brokered was “the greatest contribution to peace we’ve seen in a very long time”.

“Of course that’s a matter for the committee, but this has been the greatest contribution to peace in the Middle East in a generation or more,” he said.

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“He’s playing with a different tactic and it’s working.”

Wong cited Trump’s comments that he told Netanyahu he “can’t fight the world” as evidence that global moves to recognize Palestine are helping the peace process, despite the Trump administration’s open opposition.

“I see this as confirmation that being part of the international momentum towards peace is the right call,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to secure peace.

Netanyahu’s office wrote on social media: “Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize, he deserves it!” He supported Trump for the award by saying.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi also said Trump “deserves the Nobel Peace Prize” for the peace deal, according to a statement carried by Türkiye’s state news service Anadolu Agency.

The agreement, approved by the Israeli government on Friday, paved the way for the suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during the Israeli attack on October 7, 2023 and held in Gaza within 72 hours.

Hamas holds 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be still alive. Surviving hostages are expected to be released on Monday or Tuesday.

Israel is expected to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining 48 hostages.

“The government has just approved the framework for the release of all hostages, living and dead,” Netanyahu wrote on his English account X. The statement was included.

The Israeli cabinet’s approval was widely awaited but put an end to the first phase of the agreement.

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