Mick Hartley

Plausible background to this new Gaza peace deal – here, from Ahmed Fouad Alkatib:

What caused Hamas to agree to give up its chief bargaining chip, the Israeli hostages, for phase 1 of the deal was the unprecedented pressure against the terror group from Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt. The Turks want sanctions relief, the F-35 stealth fighter, new F-16s, and greater cooperation with the US. The Qataris got the apology from Israel for the failed airstrike and the US commitment to Doha’s national security through a new agreement/pact, and in exchange, had to deliver the hostages, which means delivering Hamas. Egypt has been terrified of the specter of forced displacement of Gazans into Sinai, and its mobilization of the Egyptian army on the country’s eastern border raised tensions with Israel and threatened the peace treaty between the two countries, not to mention US foreign aid. Cumulatively, this meant that the three countries (Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt) applied enormous pressure on Hamas, which is isolated, militarily weakened, its allies defeated, and without options.