In Praise of Lives Saved — But a Warning: This Deal Abandons Palestinians to Endless Suffering

A VINNEWS OP-ED

There can be no question: President Trump’s role in negotiating the Israel–Hamas “first phase” ceasefire and hostage deal has saved lives. The captives held in Gaza — some for nearly two years — now have a chance to return home. The families, the grieving, the weary, must see this as a victory, however partial. To effect such a breakthrough in one of the world’s most entrenched and intractable conflicts is no small feat — and the man who secured that opening deserves recognition, perhaps even at the loftiest level.

Yet we must name what the world refuses to acknowledge: this deal, for all its humanitarian merit, may be a death sentence for the Palestinian people. By leaving Hamas in power, by treating this terror organization as a legitimate governing partner, by celebrating a ceasefire that changes nothing about who rules Gaza, the international community is condemning two million Palestinians to continued tyranny, oppression, and despair. The hostages will go home. The Palestinians will remain captive.

A Deal That Saves Some Lives — While Ensuring Other Lives Remain Ruined

The practical significance of the agreement is undeniable. Under its terms, Hamas is to release all remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, while Israel undertakes a partial withdrawal to a defined line. Fire has paused (or will pause), and the most immediate suffering — held captives, desperate families — is addressed.

It is fitting that ministers and supporters in Israel have already called for Trump to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. In a world that too often abdicates the reward of peace to cynicism, such recognition would send a message: that the highest accolades belong to those who build bridges, not just walls.

But to stop there — to treat this as success — is to participate in one of history’s great betrayals. Every day that Hamas remains in power is another day of Palestinian suffering. Every celebration of this deal without demanding Hamas’s removal is another international endorsement of Palestinian subjugation.

Of Course It’s Catastrophic for Israel Too — But the World Doesn’t Care About That

Let us be clear: leaving Hamas intact is a strategic disaster for Israel. This deal guarantees future wars, future kidnappings, future rocket attacks, future tunnels, future death. Hamas has already demonstrated its intentions mere hours after the agreement was announced, attempting to kidnap another Israeli soldier. The organization’s charter hasn’t changed. Its commitment to Israel’s destruction hasn’t wavered. Its Iranian backing continues unabated.

Every day Hamas remains in power is a day it spends rebuilding its arsenal, digging new tunnels, planning new massacres. Israeli families will live under the shadow of sirens and shelters. Israeli soldiers will die in the next inevitable conflict. Israeli children will grow up knowing that the monsters who slaughtered their neighbors on October 7th are still in power, still plotting, still waiting.

But let us not pretend the international community cares a whit about Israeli security. The nations of the world have made abundantly clear that Israeli concerns rank somewhere below geopolitical convenience and far below fashionable moral posturing. The same countries that demand Israel exercise “restraint” will shake hands with Hamas representatives. The same organizations that condemn Israeli military action will remain silent as Hamas rebuilds its terror infrastructure.

Fine. The world has made its position on Israel crystal clear.

But What About the Palestinians? Does Anyone Actually Care About Them?

Here is what the world cannot ignore, cannot dismiss, cannot explain away: By leaving Hamas in power, we are condemning the Palestinian people to a fate worse than war.

If you care nothing for Israeli security, care about this: Two million Palestinians are being sentenced to live under one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes — and the international community is acting as judge, jury, and executioner.

This is not merely a hostage-taker or a military organization; it is a totalitarian system that has exercised brutal dominion over Gaza’s populace for nearly two decades. And now, with this deal, their sentence has been extended indefinitely.

The Horror That Awaits: A Generation Lost

Let us speak plainly about what Palestinian life under Hamas actually means — not in diplomatic abstractions, but in human terms:

The children: Right now, in Gaza, there are children who will return to schools where Hamas teaches them that martyrdom is the highest calling. They will memorize verses about killing Jews instead of learning mathematics. They will train with weapons instead of playing sports. They will be taught that their lives have no value except as instruments of death. These children — bright, curious, full of potential — will have their futures stolen before they even understand what a future could be.

The women: Palestinian women will return to neighborhoods where Hamas’s moral police enforce medieval codes. Where domestic abuse goes unpunished because Hamas reserves its enforcement power for “collaboration” and “immodesty.” Where ambitious young women are told their aspirations end at marriage and childbearing. Where those who resist face public humiliation, imprisonment, or worse.

The thinkers, the artists, the dreamers: Anyone with a voice, an opinion, a vision for something different will learn to stay silent. The journalist who might expose Hamas’s corruption will remember what happened to the last journalist who tried. The activist who might organize for reform will recall the public executions. The businessman who might complain about stolen aid will think of his family’s safety. An entire society’s potential — crushed under the boot of fear.

The sick and wounded: Thousands of Palestinians injured in this war will return to a healthcare system where Hamas controls medicine, equipment, and access. Aid meant for civilians will be diverted to treat fighters. Hospital resources will go to rebuilding military infrastructure. Those who suffer will learn that their pain matters less than Hamas’s next operation.

What “Reconstruction” Means Under Hamas Rule

The world speaks hopefully about “reconstruction” and “humanitarian aid.” Let us be brutally honest about what those words mean when Hamas remains in power:

Reconstruction means: Hamas gets new command centers first. New tunnels second. New weapons storage third. Ordinary Palestinians get rubble. Families who remained loyal to Hamas get building supplies. Families suspected of disloyalty get nothing. Entire neighborhoods may be left deliberately destroyed — examples to others, or cleared for Hamas’s future military needs.

Humanitarian aid means: International donors send billions. Hamas steals it. Some is sold on the black market to fund operations. Some is distributed as patronage to reward loyalty. Some is hoarded for the next war. And when investigators ask questions, they are denied access, threatened, or expelled. The world’s generosity becomes the tyrant’s slush fund.

Freedom of movement means: Hamas decides who leaves their neighborhood and who stays. Who gets permits and who doesn’t. Who can seek work and who cannot. Arbitrary power exercised over every detail of daily life, keeping the population in a state of permanent dependence and fear.

The Nightmare the World Is Enabling

Imagine you are a Palestinian father whose home was destroyed in this war. You want to rebuild. You want to provide for your family. You want your children to have a normal life.

But Hamas decides if you get building materials. Do you have the right connections? Have you been sufficiently loyal? Did your cousin criticize Hamas on social media five years ago?

Hamas decides if your children can go to school. But which school? The one that teaches them reading and math, or the one that teaches them to die for the cause?

Hamas decides if you can work. But will you work rebuilding homes or digging tunnels? And if you refuse?

Hamas decides everything. And you have no recourse, no appeal, no alternative. You live or die by the whims of armed men who answer to no one, care for no one, and serve only their own power and Iran’s ambitions.

This is not a theoretical concern. This is not exaggeration. This is documented reality. And the international community, in celebrating this ceasefire, is ensuring that this reality continues indefinitely.

The Cruelest Irony: “Palestinian Resistance” as Palestinian Oppression

For decades, Hamas has claimed to fight for Palestinian freedom. But from whom have Palestinians suffered most? Who has stolen their resources, their futures, their children’s lives?

Hamas has killed more Palestinian dreams than any outside force ever could. It has transformed Gaza from a potential Mediterranean success story into a prison of despair. It has taken international sympathy for the Palestinian cause and weaponized it, so that every critique of Hamas is dismissed as anti-Palestinian, while Hamas itself destroys Palestinian society from within.

The world’s activists march for “Free Palestine” — but from what? From whom? If we truly want Palestinians to be free, we must free them from Hamas. Everything else is performative cruelty, virtue-signaling that condemns real people to real suffering while the activists congratulate themselves on their moral clarity.

History’s Judgment: Will We Admit What We’ve Done?

Twenty years from now, when the children indoctrinated today carry out the next massacre, will the international community accept responsibility? When the next war devastates Gaza, will anyone admit that leaving Hamas in power guaranteed this outcome? When Palestinian civil society remains shattered, will we acknowledge that we chose this path?

Or will we do what we always do — express regret, demand ceasefires, send humanitarian aid that Hamas will steal, and repeat the cycle?

The Palestinian people deserve better than this. They deserve what every human being deserves: freedom from tyranny, protection from violence, the right to speak without fear, the chance to build a life of meaning and dignity.

They deserve leaders who build schools instead of tunnels. Who seek prosperity instead of martyrdom. Who value Palestinian life more than they hate Israeli life. Who answer to the people rather than to Tehran.

But this deal gives them none of that. This deal gives them more Hamas. More oppression. More stolen futures. More crushed dreams.

The Only Honest Conclusion

Let Trump have his Nobel Prize. Let the hostages return home. Let there be celebrations for lives saved.

But let us not lie to ourselves about what we have done.

We have abandoned the Palestinian people. We have looked at their suffering and decided it’s acceptable, manageable, someone else’s problem. We have chosen the convenience of dealing with Hamas over the harder work of liberating Palestinians from Hamas.

This is not peace. This is not justice. This is not even pragmatism — because leaving Hamas in power guarantees future violence, future war, future suffering for everyone.

This is moral cowardice dressed up as diplomatic achievement.

The clock is ticking. Every day Hamas remains in power, more Palestinian children are indoctrinated. More dissidents are silenced. More resources are stolen. More hope dies.

The world must wake up to this reality. Not for Israel’s sake — the world has made clear it doesn’t care about that. But for the sake of two million Palestinians who deserve the chance to live as free human beings rather than as subjects of a terrorist theocracy.

If we truly care about Palestinian lives, we cannot accept Hamas’s continued rule.

If we truly want peace, we cannot leave a genocidal terror organization in power.

If we truly believe in human rights, we cannot condemn an entire population to tyranny because confronting their tyrants is inconvenient.

The choice is before us. History is watching. And the Palestinian people — voiceless, powerless, forgotten in these celebrations — are praying someone, somewhere, will finally care enough to demand their freedom.

Not just from war. But from Hamas.