US secretary of state Marco Rubio whispers to US president Donald Trump news of progress towards a Gaza peace deal. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
For months, US president Donald Trump’s pledges to end the two-year war in Gaza have carried a hollow ring.
While he repeatedly raged against Hamas, warning there would be “all hell to pay” if they didn’t release the hostages they held in the besieged strip, he essentially gave Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu carte blanche to continue Israel’s relentless assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Until now. Finally, Trump has displayed a willingness to use the US’s heft to pressure Israel, as well as Hamas, to agree to the terms of a ceasefire and hostage release.
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