OPINION:
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain infamously returned from a 1938 conference with Adolf Hitler, proclaiming “peace in our time.” It wasn’t true then, and it’s quite apparent that peace in our time in Hamas’ war on Israel and Russia’s war on Ukraine is just as distant as it was in 1938.
Hamas reportedly agreed to a ceasefire proposal whereby half the remaining 50 hostages — fewer than half of whom are thought to still be alive — would be released in two batches during a 60-day truce and dozens of Palestinians in Israeli prisons would be simultaneously released. The deal also provides for negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to destroy Hamas, but he also has indicated that there could be a ceasefire if all remaining Hamas hostages are freed. About 70% of Israelis reportedly want the hostages released and the war to end.
Israel has called up about 60,000 more reservists for its final push on Gaza City, the last stronghold of Hamas. That is scheduled to begin next month.
We know, especially from the photos we’ve all seen of Evyatar David, that Hamas’ hostages are being starved and otherwise mistreated. Many have been killed or have died in Hamas captivity.
We should remember the Bibas family. Three of them — including the mother, Shiri, 4-year-old Ariel and his 9-month-old brother, Kfir — were killed by Hamas. The boys’ bodies showed they were strangled and then mutilated to appear as if they had died in an Israeli airstrike.
Hamas won’t release the hostages because it is winning the media war against Israel. As redundant proof, consider what The Economist (a very liberal British newspaper) said in a recent editorial: “The war against Hamas in Gaza has become endless, indiscriminate and militarily pointless. It is turning Israel into a pariah.” How is it pointless when the hostages remain in Hamas’ hands? Israel is becoming a pariah only because of the relentless Hamas propaganda accusing Israel of starving the people of Gaza, which manifestly isn’t true, but the global media are accepting it as the truth.
All Hamas has to do to prevent the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza City, and to survive, is release all the remaining hostages. Mr. Netanyahu, as strong a leader as anyone in Israeli history, couldn’t sustain the war if Hamas released them.
Peace between Israel and Hamas depends on the release of the hostages. Victims don’t take hostages; terrorists do. If Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages, both alive and dead, no peace — not even a ceasefire — can be possible.
President Trump got quite angry with Ukraine for bombing a pipeline that supplies Hungary with oil. The strike was only a small part of Ukraine’s drone strikes, which are crippling Russia’s ability to supply gasoline to its own people.
Mr. Trump has declared another two-week deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying, “I think I’ll know the attitude of Russia and, frankly, Ukraine, and then we’ll make a decision about what we’re going to do.” Mr. Trump has previously set other deadlines, such as the one that expired on Aug. 8, for a Russia-Ukraine deal. He has threatened more sanctions against Russia but has sanctioned only India for its consumption of Russian oil.
The Kremlin made clear Sunday that Ukraine may be allowed to exist but without the Donbas region (about 20% Ukraine), which must be surrendered. It has also demanded that NATO troops not be stationed in Ukraine and that Ukraine abandon its ambitions to join NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected any land-for-peace deal. Yet Mr. Trump called the Donbas “prime territory” for such a deal during his Alaska summit with Mr. Putin.
Land-for-peace deals have a long and sordid history going back to 1938 and Chamberlain’s deal with Hitler, which traded the Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia) for peace. The Israelis have traded land for peace, having abandoned Gaza to Palestinian control in 2005. In 2020, Mr. Trump said Israel’s capital city, Jerusalem, could be divided with a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem. He should remember how that worked.
Mr. Putin’s philosopher, Alexander Dugin, has written that if Mr. Putin doesn’t conquer Ukraine, Mr. Putin’s dream of reconquering the old Soviet empire is an empty concept.
If Mr. Zelenskyy refuses a land-for-peace deal, he will be accepting only the historical verdict on such deals. If he agrees, he will be accepting the idea that Mr. Putin could revive the war at any time it suits him.
Why would Mr. Trump accept a deal that has no future? He wants to be remembered in history as a peacemaker. He has succeeded, for example, in Azerbaijan-Armenia and Rwanda-Congo, but peace between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas eludes him.
There will be no peace in our time while Russia and Hamas continue their aggression.
• Jed Babbin is a national security and foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Times and a contributing editor for The American Spectator.
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