US Vice President J.D. Vance arrives in Israel, October 21, 2025 (CBS)

Emperor Trump’s New Clothes in Israel and Gaza

EA-Irish Examiner Podcast: Is There A “Peace Plan” for Gaza?

I joined Dublin NewsTalk’s Pat Kenny Show on Tuesday for a 16-minute analysis of why the two-week ceasefire in Gaza is unstable.

I explain the root problem is the vagueness of Phase 2, as Donald Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff rushed to get a Phase 1 ceasefire so Donald Trump could take a victory lap.

I talk about the effects over the Israeli occupation of 53% of Gaza, marked by an invisible yellow line in many places; the security vacuum filled by Hamas in unoccupied Gaza; Israel’s restriction of aid to civilians; and the return of the bodies of Israeli hostages.

The danger is that someone will use these incidents as a pretext to scuttle the ceasefire and resume operations.

Without absolving Hamas from what it has done in the past, that becomes with the hard right in Netanyahu’s government.