Sabine Sterk: Who Believed the War Was Over?
For a brief moment, there was hope. After the Trump-brokered ceasefire, the one that supposedly marked an end to the bloodshed and brought home the remaining hostages, people dared to believe that perhaps, finally, Israel could breathe again. But peace in the Middle East has always been a mirage: shimmering in the distance, only to vanish the moment you reach for it.
Donald Trump, for all the good he accomplished during his presidency, especially the historic Abraham Accords that brought normalization with parts of the Arab world, failed to confront one simple truth: you cannot make peace with those who are ideologically committed to your destruction.
And that’s where the illusion began to crumble.
Qatar: The Terror Bank in Diplomat’s Clothing
Trump allowed Qatar, after Iran, the world’s biggest financier of terror and a principal backer of Hamas, to play a “peacekeeping” role in Gaza. Yes, the same Qatar that openly shelters Hamas leaders in five-star hotels, bankrolls extremist media like Al Jazeera, and funnels billions into Gaza under the guise of “humanitarian aid.”
Let’s not pretend this was a neutral move. Qatar has always used money and influence to buy silence. And one can’t help but notice that Trump’s own private jet, a $400 million luxury gift from Qatar, coincided with a stunning lack of criticism toward the emirate’s role in terrorism financing. Coincidence? Perhaps. But history teaches us to follow the money, not the words.
And Qatar was not alone. Trump’s ceasefire deal handed regional “peacekeeping” influence to Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy under strict Islamic rule, and to Egypt, still wrestling with the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of Hamas’s ideological parents.
To trust these regimes to “keep the peace” is like asking the arsonist to guard the fire station.
Israel: Surrounded, Blamed, and Yet Still Standing
The result of this misguided diplomacy? Israel is once again surrounded by threats, not just rockets, but lies. The Pallywood propaganda machine, fueled by millions of online bots and sympathetic Western media, has managed to turn the aggressor into the victim and the victim into the villain.
Every time Israel defends itself from terror, the world rushes to condemn it. The United Nations calls for “proportionate response”, as if proportion matters when terrorists butcher families and burn babies alive. Meanwhile, antisemitic mobs fill the streets of Europe and America, chanting for Israel’s destruction under the deceptive slogan of “resistance.”
Now, Hezbollah in Lebanon declares its “legitimate right to resist,” claiming it will “support the Lebanese army” against Israel. That is, of course, code for preparing for war. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun even ordered troops to respond to supposed Israeli “incursions”, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Hezbollah’s aim has never changed: destroy Israel, whatever it takes.
The New “Alliances”, A Powder Keg Waiting to Explode
According to Israeli security analyses, a potential military alliance between Egypt and Saudi Arabia could create one of the most dangerous strategic threats Israel has ever faced. These are the second- and third-largest armies in the Middle East and their growing cooperation could easily turn from “peacekeeping” to posturing.
A recent report from the Hebrew outlet Natsiv Net warned that such a Cairo–Riyadh alliance could “redraw the map of power” in the region and create “a joint force forming on Israel’s southern flank.” In other words: a new front line.
History has shown that whenever Israel’s enemies start coordinating, it’s never about “stability”, it’s about preparing for confrontation.
And this time, with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas emboldened, and Western resolve weakening, Israel faces a familiar yet ever more complex threat: a coordinated encirclement of hate.
The World Still Doesn’t Learn
How quickly the world forgets. How easily it blames the Jew.
The same nations that watched in silence when rockets rained on Israeli kindergartens are now applauding “restraint.” The same commentators who ignored the massacre of October 7 lecture Israel on morality. And the same “human rights” organizations that were mute when Hamas used hospitals as human shields now accuse the IDF of war crimes for defending its people.
It’s a grotesque déjà vu, the same hypocrisy that followed the Holocaust, the same cowardice that allowed antisemitism to metastasize into genocide.
The lesson should have been learned long ago: when the world turns against the Jews, it’s never really about policy or politics, it’s about hate.
The Eternal Survivor
Empires have risen and fallen. The mighty Romans, the Ottomans, and the British are all gone. But Israel? Israel endures. Not because of size, not because of wealth, but because of spirit, an unbreakable conviction that life, truth, and faith are stronger than death, lies, and terror.
Israel has always been the world’s moral compass, whether the world liked it or not. Its survival is not only a testament to its people’s resilience but a warning to those who wish it harm: you can destroy cities, but you cannot destroy purpose.
So when the world asks, “Who believed the war was over?” the answer is simple: only those blind enough to ignore history.
Because Israel knows, the war against Jewish existence never truly stopped. But Israel also knows something its enemies never will: we have survived every empire, every tyrant, and every lie. And we will survive this too.
