Published: 7 October 2025
Last updated: 9 October 2025
Last Friday, Hamas agreed to negotiate an end to hostilities in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages on the basis of the Trump peace framework. Hamas has not said that it will disarm or that its leaders will go into exile and there are clear divisions of opinion within the organisation. The Israelis have said that they will not withdraw completely. Even so, this may well be the beginning of the end.
In the past, both Netanyahu and Hamas have demonstrated a penchant for the acceptance of a proposal, followed by a reinterpretation, then endowing it with a plethora of caveats and finally drawing out the proceedings for as long as possible. According to numerous recent opinion polls, they do so in defiance of majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians who want an end to this conflict. Both Netanyahu and Hamas are experts when it comes to moving the goalposts.
One remarkable aspect of the Trump framework is for the former British prime minister, Tony Blair to become the “governor” of Gaza during its reconstruction period. Blair carries with him considerable political baggage. Unlike his predecessor, Harold Wilson, during the years of the Vietnam War, Blair chose to involve the UK in overthrowing Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
The “Dodgy Dossier” of September 2002 claimed that Saddam was in possession of weapons of mass destruction which could be deployed within 45 minutes. This and other claims at the time proved to be deceptive nonsense.
Blair’s public embrace of the invasion of Iraq, “standing shoulder to shoulder” with George W Bush, brought him worldwide opprobrium – and especially within his own Labour party. The Stop the War Coalition – led by a coalition of Trotskyists, Stalinists and offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood – brought out huge numbers in protest in 2003.
