‘Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize’: Veteran Israeli negotiator hails Gaza deal

7 hours ago 3

A veteran Israeli negotiator, who played an important role in back-channel discussions with Hamas over an agreement to end the war in Gaza, says US President Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the fighting and secure the return of Israeli hostages.

As the Israeli cabinet officially ratified a ceasefire with Hamas on Friday, Gershon Baskin also said that Hamas was willing to agree to a near-identical deal more than a year ago, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to countenance an end to the war until Trump pressured him to do so.

Baskin, a progressive peace activist and two-state solution advocate, said: “To me it was clear that President [Joe] Biden projected American weakness while President Trump projects American power...President Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.”

“There are still details that we don’t know but what is important is that this agreement is a declaration of the end of the war – not a temporary ceasefire.

“There are guarantees that the war will not be renewed once Hamas releases all the hostages.”

Baskin served as a key interlocutor between Hamas leaders and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in the weeks leading up to the peace agreement, tasked with helping to convince Hamas that Trump was serious about ending the war.

“I did not make suggestions regarding the Israeli side because for over a year I believed that if President Trump decides the war has to end, Trump will force Netanyahu into the agreement. That is exactly what happened,” he said.

“What we should know is that this deal could have been done a long time ago. Hamas agreed to all of the same terms in September 2024...but at that point the response of the Israeli negotiators was that the prime minister did not agree to the end of the war.”

Baskin, who travelled to Australia this year, led negotiations with Hamas over Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured in 2006 and released as part of a 2011 prisoner exchange.

Trump has repeatedly claimed he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on securing the peace.

Norwegian authorities are preparing to announce the recipient for this year’s prize in Oslo late on Friday AEDT.

The rapid developments in the Gaza talks appear unlikely to influence the award, however, because the Norwegian Nobel Committee said the decision on this year’s winner had already been made.

“The last meeting of the Nobel Committee took place on Monday,” Erik Aasheim, spokesman for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, told Agence France-Presse.

This would mean Trump would have to wait until 2026 to win the prize, which Barack Obama received in his first year in office.

Netanyahu’s office backed Trump for the award on social media, saying: “Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize – he deserves it!”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also said Trump “deserves the Nobel Peace Prize” for the peace deal, according to a statement reported by news service Anadolu Agency.

The deal approved by the Israeli government on Friday cleared the way for the suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and the release of Israeli hostages – taken in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and being held in Gaza – within 72 hours after that.

Hamas is holding 48 hostages, of which 20 are believed to still be alive. The living hostages are expected to be released on Monday or Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.

Israel is expected to release nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining 48 hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

“The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s English-language X account said.