Trump lost in Saturday's gambling game

Saturday afternoon passed, and although Hamas did not release all the hostages, US President Donald Trump did not fulfill his promise to create hell in Gaza.

Trump had earlier stated that he was against the gradual process of prisoner and hostage exchanges between Israel and Hamas, threatening that the ceasefire in Gaza would end if Hamas did not release all hostages by noon on February 15, and according to him, hell would arise in this territory.

However, Hamas, ignoring the threats of the US president, refused to release all hostages and announced that it would uphold the agreement reached on the release of a number of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners.

In this context, Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday afternoon, February 15, and Israel released 169 Palestinian prisoners in return. This exchange and the ensuing ceasefire demonstrated the US president's defeat in a political-security gamble.

Of course, in order to avoid the consequences of this defeat, Trump tried to throw the ball in the Zionist court. He said that the Israeli government should decide whether to continue or end the ceasefire in Gaza. He also insisted that any decision by the Israelis would be supported by the US government.

However, Israel also does not seem to intend, at least at this stage, to resume the war in Gaza. The resumption of the war by Israel would put an end to the process of releasing the hostages by Hamas, and this event would increase political pressure on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. So that the possible death of the hostages or the damage they caused would be difficult for the Israeli government.

At the same time, there is no prospect of success with the resumption of the war in Gaza, at least in the short term. Israel, with the help of America and Europe, did everything in Gaza for 15 months, completely destroying the region, but could not overcome the resistance of the Palestinian people.

In the days following the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the presence of Hamas forces in all corners of Gaza demonstrated that Hamas still has great power and influence, and that the horrific Israeli massacres in the region have not damaged the combat organization of these Palestinian resistance forces.

On the other hand, although Trump threatened to create hell in Gaza, its implementation was questionable. Of course, not because Americans cannot create hell in Gaza, but because on October 7, 2023, with the start of the terrible Israeli attacks on Gaza, hell was created in Gaza with American support, but the Palestinian resistance was not broken. The Palestinian resistance will remain unshakable with a repeat of the Israeli-American hell in Gaza.

Here remains Trump’s bluff, which did not come true, which led to his defeat in the “Saturday afternoon gamble.” A defeat that not only damaged Donald Trump’s personal reputation, but also called into question the reputation of the President of the United States.