The road ahead to lasting peace between Israel and Hamas could be a long one given extreme tensions in the region and the reluctance of certain dissident elements of Hamas to honor the terms of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, but the peace plan is still intact and the Trump Administration is committed to keeping it that way.
The peace plan has already begun to be implemented, and the historic agreement has resulted in the successful return of all living Israeli hostages held in captivity for over two years. The peace deal is holding despite rumored challenges from select Hamas “cells” and the relentless scrutiny of the left-wing press.
Vice President J.D. Vance visited Israel on Tuesday to strengthen President Trump’s peace deal after a rumored selection of Hamas cells violated the ceasefire Sunday, prompting a swift response from Israel.
In a statement streamed Tuesday from Israel, Vice President Vance stated that the peace effort was going better than he expected after the skirmishes between dissident elements of Hamas and the IDF over the weekend. “Things are going frankly better than I expected they were,” Vance said Tuesday afternoon.
However, Vance stressed the importance of continuing to ensure the cease fire and peace terms are respected. “This is a very tough situation, we have two peoples’, two enemies, who fought a very tough conflict against each other”, Vance said. Vance stressed that Americans and Israelis are working to rebuild Gaza and stabilize the region, and stressed that there is a plan to place “security forces on the ground in Gaza not composed of Americans who can keep the peace in the long term.”
Vance also called out the duplicitous nature of the American press, stating that he has noticed an attitude among Western media that is almost “rooting for failure” in the Middle East. “I’ve sensed in the American media and the Western media, where there is almost this desire to root for failure”, Vance said. “That every time something bad happens, every time there’s an act of violence, there’s this inclination to say, ‘oh, this is the end of the ceasefire’, it’s not the end. It is in fact exactly how this is going to have to happen,” Vance stated.
Vice President Vance’s visit to Israel came after a reported attack on Israeli military personnel from Hamas on Sunday prompted a series of response attacks from the IDF.
President Trump stated Sunday that the ceasefire was still in place, and speculated that the attacks could be from dissident rebels within Hamas, not necessarily the military group’s leadership. “We think maybe the leadership isn’t involved…but either way it’s going to be handled properly…” President Trump stated.
Vice President Vance added context to President Trump’s assessment that Hamas leadership may not be responsible for violating the peace agreement, noting that there are “40 different cells within Hamas” some of which allegedly are not following the peace terms.
Vice President Vance noted that the road to peace may not be without challenges. “There are going to be fits and starts. Hamas is going to fire on Israel, Israel is going to have to respond of course, there are going to be moments where you have people within Gaza not quite sure what they’re actually doing. We think that it has the best chance for sustainable peace, but even if it does that, it’s going to have hills and valleys and we’re going to have to monitor the situation.”
While tensions are still high in the Middle East and President Trump and Vice President Vance are working to ensure the peace deal continues to strengthen the region, polling shows that since successful implementation of the ceasefire, voters are giving President Trump credit.
An Oct. 17 AP-NORC survey found a strong uptick in support for President Trump’s handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with 47 percent of voters now approving of how Trump is handling the conflict, up 10 percentage points from September.
An Emersion College poll from Oct. 13-14 found Americans support President Trump’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas by thirteen points, 47 percent to 34 percent. This is a significant change since Emerson’s poll covering President Trump’s first 100 days in April, when Americans disapproved of the president’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas by 16 points, 46 percent to 30 percent. Approval has risen seventeen points since President Trump’s first 100 days, and disapproval over the war has fallen twelve points since then, according to the survey.
According to the Emerson survey, Democrats are still unwilling to give President Trump credit for advancing peace in the middle east. Democrats disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas by 38 points, 57 percent to 19 percent. Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict by 73 points, 80 percent to seven percent. Independents have made the biggest swing in approval for President Trump’s handling of the war in Gaza since April, with 43 percent of independents now approving of Trump’s handling of the war, up from 25 percent in April, an eighteen-point rise in approval for Trump.
From their statements, President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance do not appear to be acting as if peace in the region will be immediate or without significant work, a testament to their honesty with the American people. A ceasefire has been brokered to end the bloodshed, and the peace deal has resulted in the successful return of all living Israeli hostages, but the Trump Administration is clearly aware that the peace terms will need to be reinforced, and the road ahead could be long. This is simply the reality of the tensions in the region and the region’s history, but as Vice President Vance stated Tuesday, “we’ve got a lot of work left to do”.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
