Lous Views

After nearly two years of war and relentless Hamas aggression that began with the atrocities of October 7, 2023, a breakthrough has finally been reached. On October 8, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement and signed the first phase of the deal. Under this phase, all living hostages are to be released in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences, within 72 hours, and Israel will also withdraw its forces to pre-designated lines within the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire went into effect on October 10, 2025.

For Israel, this agreement is not a gesture of weakness but a demonstration of moral strength, a testament to a nation that defends its citizens even under unrelenting scrutiny and pressure. The deal’s sequencing makes clear that the hostages’ release comes first. Only after that humanitarian obligation is fulfilled does Israel ease its military posture, maintaining full readiness to act if Hamas violates the ceasefire.

This is not “peace at any price.” It is a conditional truce rooted in Israeli security, designed to save innocent lives without surrendering to terror. Israel made painful concessions to bring its people home, but it has not compromised its right, or its will, to defend itself.

While others hesitated, Trump acted. Drawing on the regional alliances he forged through the Abraham Accords, he mobilized key Arab partners,  Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan, to pressure Hamas politically and financially. By aligning those nations around the shared goal of regional stability, he effectively isolated Hamas, leaving the terror group without diplomatic or material lifelines.

For the first time, the Arab world publicly recognized - even if only impliedly - that Hamas’s extremism endangers everyone,  Israelis, Palestinians, and the entire region. That shift was no accident; it was the result of Trump’s behind-the-scenes leverage, credibility, and willingness to confront uncomfortable truths.

Trump’s stance, that Israel has the absolute right to defend itself and that terrorists must never be rewarded, restored moral clarity to global diplomacy. He refused to draw false equivalences between aggressor and victim. His involvement reminded the world that peace is achieved through strength, not surrender.

The result was a deal struck on Israel’s terms, not dictated by international committees detached from reality. It was achieved through the projection of strength, the same strength that defines Israel’s survival and that Trump amplified on the world stage.

Even as Israelis celebrate the return of their loved ones, no one harbors illusions. Hamas has violated every previous ceasefire it ever signed. Its charter, rhetoric, and record make clear that its war against Israel is ideological, not territorial.

Israel cannot afford complacency. Its security forces must remain vigilant, its intelligence sharp, and its deterrence absolute. Every pause in fighting must be used to rebuild readiness, because peace in the Middle East has never been a destination, it is a fragile pause between battles.

Trump’s diplomacy, whatever one’s politics, underscored an enduring truth: Israel’s survival does not depend on international approval but on its ability to defend itself without apology. If this ceasefire holds, it will not be because Hamas discovered compassion, but because Israel, backed by allies who refuse to confuse self-defense with aggression, made it clear that terror has consequences. Peace, in this context, is not a gift. It is earned through strength, sustained through vigilance, and protected by courage.

Now, as talk swirls about a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, Trump himself has hinted that the thought has crossed his mind. Perhaps it should. After all, few world leaders have managed to pull warring parties this far apart back from the brink. But even if the committee in Oslo never sends that invitation, history will note what really matters: that through bold diplomacy and moral conviction, he helped bring home twenty innocent Israeli lives.

And in a world where trophies fade and ceremonies are forgotten, saving twenty lives is a prize greater than any medal, and one that history will remember far longer than a plaque ever could.

Lou Shapiro is a criminal defense attorney-certified specialist and legal analyst, but most importantly, makes the end-of-shul announcements at Adas Torah. He can be reached at LouisJShapiro@gmail.com.