Peloni: Khaled provides some important reflections on today’s chaotic announcements and reversals. Most importantly, however, is the fact that Hamas is back in power in Gaza, for now at least, and is being reinvigorated with the return of UN assisted aid deliveries, as it has recently taken to slaughtering and publicly executing those who it claims were allied with Israel, of which only some were actually cooperating with Israel before her required withdrawal.
Khaled Hassan | The Grand Strategy | Oct 13, 2025
A day of freedom, unprecedented chaos, and contested futures
In my lifetime, I have never seen or experienced a day of such dramatic diplomatic whiplash. While the world witnessed the profound relief of hostages returning home, the backstage politics were a masterclass in chaos and last-minute reversals.
The day began with a moment of profound human significance: the release of all 20 living Israeli hostages from Gaza, alongside the return of the first Palestinian prisoners. In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, crowds erupted in cheers and waved flags as the Red Cross completed the transfers. For the families, after two years of anguish, this was a day of immeasurable relief, with one mother, Einav Zangauker, famously telling her freed son Matan in a video call, “The war is over. You are coming home” .
Yet, this human milestone was immediately overshadowed by a series of stunning diplomatic flip-flops. When Egypt published a list of attendees for the Sharm El-Sheikh summit a day ahead, Saudi Arabia was notably absent. Then, as President Trump was delivering his speech in the Knesset, Saudi Arabia announced that its foreign minister would be participating after all .
The chaos did not stop there. During the day, the Egyptian Presidency announced that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will both attend the Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh”. This was reportedly at Trump’s personal request. A little while after, Bibi’s office publicly contradicted this, confirming that “The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for the invitation but said he will be unable to attend due to time constraints ahead of the start of the holiday [Simchat Torah]”.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-trump-erdogan-and-the-emir-of-qatar-sign-gaza-ceasefire-agreement.
I just wrote a fairly long comment on this story. Put somehow or other a sinister force erased it. That has happened to several of my comments recently. Peloni, could please try to fish this disappeared comment out of electronic oblivion? In any case, the jist of what I wrote is that Qatar and Turkey under Erdogan are mortal enemies of Israel. Why should Trump sign with them as “guarantors” of his “peacedeal?” And why should Israel accept such a deal with these kinds of “guarantors?’ As for Egypt, its refusal to allow Palestinians who want to emigrate from Gaza onto its territory, and its toleration for Hamas’ smuggling tunnels to bring weapons into Gaza, makes them a unreliable guarantor. Trump has discredited his peace mission, and himself, by cosigning with these dudes.
@Adam
I could not agree with you more.
Sorry but the electronic oblivion is empty.
@Adam: You’re right of course.
Egypt has never been a good neighbor – tunnels and blockades.
Qatar has its nose out of joint since Israel proved that it couldn’t protect the Hamas leadership indefinitely.
Turkey has been making so much noise recently and spoiling for a fight that they can only be considered as being as useful as the UN troops, namely not at all. They may, however, if the see a chance, cause damage in Israel, one way or another.
We all expect Hamas to try to restore their previous eminence in the Gaza Strip and continue to spread terror and violence especially amongst the Gazans. They will however, by all means available to them, try to build up their terror force in order to try a rerun of October 7, 2023. They have said so often enough that even those who are ready to believe anything they say about Israel must now be aware of their intentions.
@dreuveni: I agree.