{"id":259310,"date":"2026-01-27T01:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T01:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/259310\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T01:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T01:55:14","slug":"the-last-hostage-is-home-but-israel-still-faces-being-shackled-by-trumps-plan-for-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/259310\/","title":{"rendered":"The last hostage is home, but Israel still faces being shackled by Trump’s plan for Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bittersweet news that Israelis have been waiting for finally came on Monday.<\/p>\n

The body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last slain hostage held in Gaza, was found by the IDF and returned to Israel for a proper burial.<\/p>\n

Gvili\u2019s return is a cathartic moment for Israel, as there are now no living or dead Israeli hostages in Gaza for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n

It is also an important one for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he had been pushed in recent days into allowing the re-opening of the Rafah Crossing before Gvili\u2019s body had been found.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t mean Netanyahu is out of the weeds, however.<\/p>\n

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Over the past few days, Israel\u2019s control over the future of the Gaza Strip seems to have slipped drastically.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tPakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (3L), Kosovo\u2019s President Vjosa Osmani (C-R), Argentina\u2019s President Javier Milei (R), applaud as US President Donald Trump (C) holds a signing founding charter at the \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP)<\/p>\n

But Israel still retains control of key facets of the Strip, and maintains a potential pathway to continuing to assert itself in the future of the enclave, via US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

It may still hope to arrest the accelerating rush toward phase two of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and the start of reconstruction under the aegis of those it does not trust, though doing so will likely necessitate convincing the US leader.<\/p>\n

Trump forges ahead<\/p>\n

In Davos on Thursday, Trump rolled out<\/a> his Board of Peace, as a medley of world leaders and senior officials sat in two rows listening politely to the US president\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani was on stage, as was Turkey\u2019s powerful Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. There was, quite notably, no Israeli presence, though Netanyahu said he would join the body.<\/p>\n

Even if he or President Isaac Herzog had taken the stage (Netanyahu reportedly<\/a> blocked the president\u2019s participation), Israel is just one player among many holding the power to decide what happens next in Gaza \u2014 including hostile actors such as Turkey and double-dealing ones like Qatar.<\/p>\n

Ali Shaath, the chief commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, joined the Davos proceedings by video and announced that the Rafah border crossing between the Strip and Egypt would open this week in both directions.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tAli Shaath, the top official of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, signs the committee\u2019s mission statement in a photo posted to his X account on January 17, 2026. (Ali Shaath\/X)<\/p>\n

Israel had been insisting that the crossing would remain closed until the body of Gvili was returned to Israel, which was far from a certain outcome when the announcement was made.<\/p>\n

But with the White House and the mediating countries pressing Israel \u2014 including announcing<\/a> the opening over Israel\u2019s objections \u2014 Netanyahu was unable to hold the line on a key Israeli demand.<\/p>\n

On Sunday night, after days of confusion, his office released a late-night announcement that the Rafah Crossing would indeed reopen. The statement tried to make it seem like Israel was imposing firm conditions for the reopening, saying it was a \u201climited\u201d opening for pedestrians only, and that it would happen only after an operation searching for Gvili was completed.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tEgyptian trucks and heavy machinery line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on October 26, 2025. (AFP)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Americans have pushed to get to the second stage with an optimism viewed by some in Israel as dangerously naive.<\/p>\n

In Davos on Thursday, Trump\u2019s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner presented<\/a> his vision for Gaza, saying he wants to bring \u201cfree market economy principles to Gaza, reflecting the \u201csame mindset, same approach\u201d that Trump is implementing in the US. His slide deck, which featured backward-facing Arabic, showed AI images of a Gaza with futuristic high-rise buildings and its own seaport and airport.<\/p>\n

The presentation came a week after two top White House officials expressed<\/a> an even more rose-tinted prognosis for Gaza, and for the Hamas terror group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked to a number of Hamas people, and we\u2019re hearing throughout the Arab world that people don\u2019t want to be at war anymore,\u201d said one of the officials. \u201cThey want peace. They want a better economic future for their families. They want credible homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tHamas gunmen stand near an International Red Cross (ICRC) vehicle, as a search for the bodies of killed Israeli hostages takes place, in Gaza City on November 2, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want what everybody else in this world wants \u2014 just a good life, and a good life doesn\u2019t occur through military means.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hamas is still armed, and has made no commitment to giving up its weapons. Some senior officials, like UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, are even advocating<\/a> for Hamas to keep its small arms.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the view of Hamas as a relatively pragmatic force interested more in establishing economic well-being and stability over ideological objectives and jihadist ambitions was pervasive in the Israeli security establishment in the lead-up to October 7, and is now viewed as one of the key failings that enabled Hamas\u2019s murderous invasion to take place.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s presence in Rafah<\/p>\n

There are absolutely worrying trends for the future of Gaza. But all is not lost.<\/p>\n

There is no question that Israel lost a battle over opening the Rafah Crossing, which Netanyahu calls<\/a>\u00a0\u201cHamas\u2019s lifeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, even though Israel will not have a presence in the crossing itself, anyone moving from Egypt into Gaza will immediately enter Israeli-controlled territory.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tThe upgraded Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, pictured on December 8, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Israel will maintain oversight by a remote surveillance system at the crossing, be in charge of granting advanced approval to travelers coming in and out of the Gaza Strip, and be able to scan any computers or other electronic devices passing through.<\/p>\n

Additionally, IDF troops will be deployed nearby and operate their own checkpoint aimed at preventing weapons smuggling for those who cross into Gaza.<\/p>\n

So at least in the short term, it will be very difficult for Hamas to rearm through the crossing itself.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIDF troops work to uncover Hamas tunnels in southern Gaza\u2019s Rafah, in a handout photo issued by the military on November 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

Even with Israel blocking weapons from coming in overland from Egypt, Hamas still has a massive arsenal inside Gaza. But if Netanyahu plays his cards right, those weapons actually offer Israel an opening to reassert control of what happens in the enclave.<\/p>\n

Bored of peace<\/p>\n

Trump has a bold, ambitious vision for the entire Middle East. \u201cI\u2019m not just talking about Gaza\u2026 We\u2019re talking about much beyond Gaza,\u201d he said<\/a> in September alongside Netanyahu as he laid out his Gaza peace plan. \u201cThe whole deal \u2014 everything getting solved. It\u2019s called peace in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday in Davos, Trump said that his board \u201chas the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies\u201d in history.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tUS Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff speaks after the signing of a Board of Peace charter during the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. (AP\/Evan Vucci)<\/p>\n

He recognized that his vision of a new, peaceful Middle East starts with Hamas giving up its weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed to ensuring Gaza is demilitarized, properly governed, and beautifully rebuilt,\u201d he said at the Board of Peace ceremony. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great plan, and that\u2019s where the Board of Peace really starte,d and I think we can spread out to other things as we succeed with Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is exactly where Netanyahu has a case to make. Trump\u2019s vision for Gaza, and beyond, will be stuck as long as Hamas refuses to give up its weapons, which it will doubtless continue to do.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. (Jim Watson \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

This will give Netanyahu an opening to approach Trump with a pitch of his own: If the US leader wants to get a new round of normalization agreements and a transformed Middle East rolling, Netanyahu may tell Trump, Hamas will need to be disarmed by force.<\/p>\n

The still-in-utero International Stabilization Force intended to watch over Gaza is not going to risk combat against Hamas. It will take a renewed IDF operation to force Hamas leaders in Gaza into exile, and the rest to agree to fully surrender their weapons.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIDF troops stand by the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, after it was located at a cemetery in eastern Gaza City, on January 26. 2026. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

There are ample reasons for Trump to resist such a proposal, including massive pressure from his Middle Eastern allies, but such an operation will likely be fought differently than the previous rounds of combat since October 7. There are no more hostages in Gaza, and the IDF can operate far more quickly and aggressively against a badly weakened Hamas.<\/p>\n

Israel hasn\u2019t presented a clear path forward in Gaza to this point, and the Americans have had to fill that gap with their own ideas. In proposing a short, intense military operation, Netanyahu would be offering a realistic path toward Trump\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

The prime minister is looking into flying to Washington in February for his seventh face-to-face meeting with Trump this term. By then, enough time should have passed to get a sense of how Hamas is going to handle the pressure to disarm now that phase two is underway, and Israel will be in a position to push for a brief but significant return to action in the Strip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bittersweet news that Israelis have been waiting for finally came on Monday. The body of Master Sgt.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-259310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}