October 13, 2025, was a day of great celebration. Twenty Israelis who had spent two years as hostages under Hamas’s barbaric grip returned to Israel and their loved ones. The haggard men shed tears of joy with their families, and a nation rejoiced.
The return of the 20 living hostages and the bodies of four others who died in captivity represented the first completed step in U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, designed to bring an end to the Gaza war. But even as more bodies are returned to Israel, much work remains, a great deal of which breeds skepticism in many analysts. Trump’s reputation as a leader who completes what he sets out to do fuels optimism that the bodies of the remaining hostages will be returned soon. Still, Hamas’s failure to meet Trump’s initial 72-hour deadline suggests that they either plan to make things difficult during negotiations, don’t have the bodies, or both.
Unequal Standards
Requesting the return of these bodies pales in comparison to what Israel was ordered to give in return: 1,968 Palestinian prisoners arrested since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, 250 of whom were serving life sentences for crimes, many of which included murder. It’s shameful that Israel must give up nearly 100 criminals for every innocent civilian in such a deal. Trump’s plan also stipulated that Israel would release the bodies of 15 deceased Gazans for each dead hostage Hamas returned—another imbalanced ratio that favors the Jewish state’s opponents.
Much of the watching world ignores or downplays this critical aspect of this deal and most exchanges involving Israel. The burden consistently falls to Israel to release extravagant numbers of terrorists to receive a much smaller number of noncombatants simply trying to return to their families and live in peace.
As it has routinely done for decades, Israel forfeits strategic advantage for the sake of peace. Consider its 2005 unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, a move designed for harmony with its Arab neighbors that was succeeded by 18 years of Palestinian planning in anticipation for the murder of 1,200 after invading southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Now, Trump’s plan not only allows Gazans to remain in Gaza if they wish but also grants Hamas members amnesty if they decommission their weapons and “commit to peaceful coexistence” and offers them safe passage to settle in other countries. These terrorists’ blood debts are essentially settled if they would simply demilitarize. But Israel’s enemies are not interested in peace.
Unchecked Violence
To no one’s surprise, Hamas did not lay its weapons down when its leaders agreed to the ceasefire. News quickly broke that mere hours after releasing the hostages to the Jewish state, Hamas killed dozens of Gazans—including those suspected of collaborating with Israel—in the streets, including several via public execution, to the sound of cheering civilians. Then, on October 19, a terrorist cell fired RPGs at Israeli soldiers, killing two and wounding three more. The IDF blamed Hamas for the attack. Hamas has not complied well with the requirements for peace yet, providing little hope that they will as time passes.
The most dangerous enemy is one that feeds its insatiable appetite for murder and refuses peace at any cost—whether by friendship, treaty, or war. And whether their rampage continues under the banner of Hamas or another organization, Palestinian militants will not rest until Israel is destroyed.
Thankfully, our Lord “who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). Try as they may, Israel’s enemies can never overpower God or overturn His plans. And He has promised to sustain Israel until the sun, moon, and stars fade away (Jeremiah 31:35–36).
Trump’s plan for peace is commendable, its goals admirable, and its beginning encouraging. But the success of the deal hinges on what comes next. Will concrete steps for lasting harmony be carried out bilaterally, or will Israel be left alone at the peace table?
For the sake of its people, the Palestinians, the Middle East, and the entire world, Israel will seek the former while preparing for the latter.
