Republican lawmakers praise Trump for Gaza deal as Palestinian Americans remain wary: ‘So much remains unclear’ | US news
While Republican lawmakers lined up Wednesday to praise Donald Trump for brokering an interim agreement between Israel and Hamas on the “first phase” of a deal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza and freeing the remaining Israeli hostages, Palestinian Americans were more cautious.
Iowa senator Joni Ernst said, “President Trump is the president of peace! Finally, the living nightmare that the hostages had to endure will end and Americans Itay and Omer will be able to find peace.” wrote References were made on social media to Israeli hostages who died in captivity. The interim agreement will allow for the return of living Israeli hostages and the remains of those killed in Gaza since October 7, 2021.
Ohio senator Bernie Moreno introduced: a solution Calling for Trump to be awarded the Nobel peace prize for bombing nuclear facilities in Iran in June. in question the announcement made this a “historic” day “for the United States, Israel, and peace in the Middle East.”
“President Trump has once again fulfilled his promise to achieve peace through force. An incredible achievement that will go down in history. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!” Moreno added.
Representative Brian Mast of Florida, who once served as a civilian volunteer in the Israeli army and wore his old Israeli uniform after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2021, also praised Trump.
“President Trump has done what career diplomats could never do; he has brought the world closer than ever to peace in Gaza,” said Mast, who chairs the House foreign affairs committee. wrote. “This agreement will only work if Hamas achieves its goal. We do not trust terrorists, we trust the results.”
While US lawmakers have not mentioned the suffering of the Palestinian people and the exact terms of the agreement are unknown, a senior Qatari official he said on social media It also includes the release of Palestinian prisoners and the entry of aid.
Still, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for his New Yorker articles about Gaza and now lives in Syracuse, New York, expressed concern.
“Trump officially announced that Hamas and Israel signed the first phase of the ‘Peace Plan.’ To be honest, I don’t like the language here,” Abu Toha said wrote on social media. “The signed agreement must insist on a permanent ceasefire. No more Palestinians should be slaughtered. No more phases to end the genocide. This is really nothing close to peace! To me, it sounds like a cessation of bloodshed for a few days or weeks!”
“I am old enough to remember the first phase of the previous ‘ceasefire agreement’ in January this year,” he added.
Palestinian American Yousef Munayyer, who directs the Palestine/Israel program at the Arab Center in Washington DC, also issued a warning. “Very likely scenario moving forward” wrote to x. “1 Trump received the Nobel Prize on Friday 2 Israel took back its prisoners on Saturday 3 The genocide continues on Sunday.”
Palestinian American Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat’s professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland, scoffed at the idea that Trump deserves to receive the Nobel peace prize this week.
Telhami said the deal Trump announced Wednesday would be “very welcome, especially if it includes a full ceasefire and much-needed Gaza aid.” wrote. “But much remains unclear even about the first phase, including Israel’s withdrawal point. The key will be agreed-upon measures to ensure that the first phase does not turn into the final phase.”
“While it is very necessary to end the killing, remember this: Gaza has been destroyed, with 10% of its population killed or injured, probably more, with the overwhelming majority left homeless. It could take decades to rebuild what has been destroyed – and that’s assuming the killing has truly ended,” added the academic, who was born outside Haifa to a family of Palestinian Christians.
“The agreement is welcomed, but the ‘peacemakers’ do not allow war crimes, including the killing of thousands of children, for most of the year and are waiting for the Nobel prize when the ceasefire is finally achieved,” Telhami said. observed. “The Prime Minister of Italy was referred to the ICC due to less permissibility of war crimes.”
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said on Tuesday that he had been reported to the international criminal court for alleged complicity in genocide in connection with his support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
