World leaders join to sign a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

World leaders gathered in Egypt on October 13th to sign a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, ending a two-year war.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on a music festival in Israel, killing 1200 people. It started the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel has launched a massive attack on Gaza, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians in an effort to dismantle Hamas. It has become a humanitarian crisis for the Palestinian people.

Dr. Evelyn Farkas, Executive Director of the McCain Institute, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more on the ceasefire and what it means for the future of Hamas and Israel.

“I think President Trump finally decided to use all of the United States’ collective power,” Farkas said, “…and turn it into influence.”

According to Farkas, President Trump was reportedly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu launching attacks in Doha, and told Netanyahu that a deal needs to get done.

“Israel had to give a guarantee that they wouldn’t strike again in Qatar, but clearly the Gulf states were worried about the conflicts spinning out of control,” Farkas explained. “So you have the Gulf states putting pressure on Hamas, and President Trump putting pressure on Netanyahu.”

Farkas emphasized how crucial this meeting was between President Trump and the different heads of state in Egypt.

“Essentially putting their faces and signatures on a commitment to bring peace to the Middle East, to bring security to Israel, and the Israeli people, and also to the Palestinian people,” Farkas said.

Farkas explained that while the ceasefire talks were restricted to Gaza, there were some discussions about the future of the region.

“To keep the ceasefire, the Israelis have to continue to move backwards, to give back territory,” Farkas said, “…at the same time Hamas is supposed to lay down their arms…Hamas hasn’t actually committed verbally or in writing to doing that. Those are two huge sticking points, leaving aside the fact that you don’t see a natural Palestinian political leadership emerging.”