President Donald Trump's most impressive accomplishment was also his first one: bringing calm to the Middle East. Before taking office, he pushed Israel and Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal that had been on the table since May 2024, including an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange. With peace in Gaza, the Houthi forces in Yemen halted their attacks on foreign shipping, and the U.S. could end its own failed campaign there. Iran seemed ready to negotiate over other outstanding issues, such as its nuclear program.
Now, Trump is rapidly undoing those accomplishments. After Israel blocked foreign aid shipments into Gaza, the Houthi movement announced that it would begin attacking Israeli shipping again. Trump not only resumed U.S. attacks on Yemen over the weekend but also took the opportunity to threaten direct war with Iran, which backs the Houthi government. Early on Tuesday morning, Israel resumed its own war in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians in air raids, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that further hostage negotiations will take place "only under fire."
Turning a ceasefire into permanent peace was always going to be difficult, and both Israel and Hamas played hardball, especially as Trump's plan to empty the Palestinian population loomed in the background. The ceasefire breaking down at exactly this time in exactly this way, however, was a U.S.-Israeli decision. The Israeli army launched the airstrikes in the middle of talks, and the Trump administration admitted that it was "consulted" by Israel beforehand.
