The fragile ceasefire in Gaza is reportedly holding for now, even as Israel accuses Hamas of violating the truce and launches targeted strikes in response. American mediators insist the deal—brokered under intense pressure—is still the best path to secure the release of hostages and pause open warfare, but the situation remains volatile.
On CBS’s 60 Minutes, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff laid bare how difficult the negotiations were, saying they felt “betrayed” when an Israeli strike in Qatar upended talks and drove Hamas underground. Their firsthand account of rubble in Gaza and the human costs of long conflict underscored why tough diplomacy, not moralizing from the sidelines, was needed to get hostages out.
Give credit where credit is due: Kushner and Witkoff, backed by a forceful American president, took the kind of direct, down-to-earth approach that career diplomats too often avoid. They met de facto with the people holding our citizens, negotiated under fire, and engineered a deal that produced the release of living hostages—proof that results matter more than headline virtue-signaling.
Conservatives should celebrate the release of the last living hostages while staying sober about the cost: nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners were swapped and the bodies of many victims still await return. This was a painful but pragmatic trade to save human lives, and it demonstrates that strength combined with careful leverage can produce hard-won outcomes.
Don’t be fooled by those who pretend the ceasefire is a permanent peace; incidents in Rafah and elsewhere show how quickly violence can flare and how Hamas can skirt agreements. Israel’s response to alleged attacks on its troops and the suspension and resumption of aid flows reveal the tense, transactional nature of any armistice with a terrorist organization that refuses to disarm.
Meanwhile, the same media chorus that rushed to label Israel with the worst possible words has been exposed by the negotiators’ own testimony: Kushner flatly rejected the genocide charge after seeing the facts on the ground. If the left’s talking points blind them to the realities of war and hostage rescue, then they are doing a disservice to both truth and the victims.
This moment calls for steady American leadership—firm guarantees, a credible international force to enforce terms, and an unrelenting focus on disarming Hamas so Gaza can be rebuilt without terrorists running the show. Patriots should stand with Israel and with the families who suffered through two years of horror, while demanding that our diplomats turn fragile ceasefires into durable security, not photo ops.
