Can’t Be Trusted: Why Every Ceasefire Deal from Israel and the US Is a Lie
After months of bloodshed and broken promises, why should anyone believe a word from Washington or Tel Aviv?
Once again, headlines are spinning delusion as diplomacy.
US President Donald Trump claims Israel has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza — a supposed breakthrough ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House. Trump is touting it as progress, warning Hamas to “take the deal” or things “will only get worse.”
But Israel and the US have proven they can’t be trusted. Not with ceasefires, diplomacy or peace. Every so-called agreement they’ve put forward in this war — and in the countless ones before it — has been a calculated lie.
Trump’s latest announcement is no different. It’s not a turning point — but a distraction. A PR move to buy time, not peace. A diplomatic theatre designed to make the aggressor look like the negotiator and the occupied look like the obstacle.
Early this year in January, Israel agreed to a ceasefire under US supervision. Hostages were released. Aid was promised. The bombs stopped — briefly. And then, predictably, Israel broke the ceasefire within days, under the pretext of “renewed threats.” The war machinery roared back to life, striking refugee camps, hospitals, and food convoys with impunity.
And the US? Silent. Complicit. Worse still, it had already greenlit Israel’s June 13 airstrikes on Iran, all while telling Tehran that negotiations were continuing. Trump’s emissaries conned Iranian officials into believing diplomacy was on the table. Then came the betrayal - coordinated attacks by Israel that killed hundreds — with Washington’s fingerprints all over it.
Rather than engaging foreign policy. It’s deception as doctrine.
According to Trump, the Gaza deal will involve the release of hostages, and a 60-day pause. What he doesn’t say is that Israel will retain full control of when, where, and how the violence resumes. Just like every ceasefire before. What he doesn’t say is that Israel still refuses to commit to lifting the blockade, rebuilding Gaza, or ending its military occupation. And what he doesn’t say is that this deal — like all the others — is designed to protect Israel’s image, not Palestinian lives.
If Hamas appears hesitant, it’s not because it doesn't want peace. It’s because it has no reason to believe Israel or the US will uphold their end of the bargain. History has taught them — and the world — that ceasefire agreements are temporary traps, used by Israel to reposition forces, replenish ammunition, and return with greater firepower.
The same pattern plays out beyond Gaza. While the US lectures other nations on peace and international law, it has allowed Ukraine and NATO to escalate bombings against Russia — even while ceasefire negotiations were underway earlier this year. Instead of urging restraint, Washington enabled missile attacks deep inside Russian territory, stalling any chance of real diplomatic resolution. So, what credibility does it have left?
These so-called “peace efforts” are always asymmetric. They demand complete submission from the weaker party, while the powerful face no accountability. Hamas is told to disarm, yet Israel faces no consequences for its illegal settlements, airstrikes on civilians, or systematic starvation of Gaza.
Palestinians are asked to prove their humanity. Israel is never asked to prove its intentions.
And the international media plays its part, reporting US-brokered ceasefires with the same breathless optimism every time, never bothering to hold Israel or Washington to account for the broken deals that follow.
The January ceasefire. The April truce proposal. The May humanitarian corridor talks. All shattered — all followed by dead children, flattened neighbourhoods, and media silence.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu and Trump continue to posture as peacemakers, all while deepening the suffering. Netanyahu insists he “wants to end the war” — the same war he ignited and refuses to finish unless Hamas is entirely dismantled. Trump, fresh off authorising attacks on Iran, now claims the moral authority to pressure others into laying down arms.
It isn’t diplomacy but dominance dressed up as dialogue. The current ceasefire “deal” isn’t a good-faith effort to end the war — it is a threat: surrender now or die later.
If the world is serious about peace in Gaza, it must stop treating the US and Israel as honest brokers. Because they are not. They are the architects and enforcers of this war, not neutral referees. Their history of backstabbing, betrayal, and bombardment has rendered their promises worthless.
Until real accountability is demanded — through international courts, sanctions, or embargoes — every ceasefire they sign will remain a temporary illusion. A pause, not a peace.
When it comes to the lives of Palestinians, the US and Israel have proven — over again — they can’t be trusted.
The short answer to your title question is: They shouldn't.
Trump could have stopped this genocide long ago. All he had to do was stop providing funding and armaments to Israel and issue a condemnation of the brutality and illegality of the collective punishment of Palestinians and the illegal settlement and attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
Trump is as complicit in this genocide and breach of the Genocide Convention and International Humanitarian Law as well as the Law of Warfare as is Netanyahu who, by now, ought to have been arrested and sent to the Hague for trial.
Trump could also have used his bluster and bullying leverage to pressure other western governments, such as those of the UK, Australia & several European nations, to condemn Israel's actions, stop any trade and impose sanctions.
As for Netanyahu and Israeli spokes-people, they consistently lie through their teeth with blatant and almost unbelievable audacity, given that the World can see what is happening on their tv screens, despite Israel's attempts to prevent it by denying journalists access, and killing them at will.
I will probably not be alive to see it but I am quite sure - so sure that I'll make the prophecy - the United States, Israel, Trump and Netanyahu will be condemned by history as criminal pariahs responsible for the worst human persecution since that of the National Socialists in the 1930s and 1940s.
Trump, Netanyahu and their allies and supporters must either be human beings who somehow don't ever need to sleep or otherwise are psychopaths and sociopaths, for had they an ounce of humane conscience and/or respect for the life of others, they would not be able to sleep.
I have no religion, not least because of situations such as has occurred in Gaza and the West Bank since 7 October 2023 and the mindless armed conflicts, persecution, destruction, prejudice, hatred and war that through the ages has set human beings against one another and caused unimaginable horrow, maiming and death.
It is time that humanity matured and stopped indulging in indoctrination of mythical beliefs and, instead, gave time, thought and practise to discussing, teaching, funding and practising peace and collaboration and respect for the life and dignity of every living creature.
Frankly, in almost 80 years on this Earth and having witnessed directly or indirectly, a large number of conflicts and tragedies and megalomaniacs, I never anticipated carnage and hypocrisy on the scale of that of Netanyahu and Trump - two criminals at the head of nations. I have no idea how much life I have left but I never want to witness this again and I doubt that I will smile again until I know that this monstrous tragedy has ended and Netanyahu and Trump are being made to account for their crimes, which are certainly as aggregious as those of the leaders of the Third Reich.
Dear George, Please cover the British Medical Association voting for severing ties with the Israeli Medical Association. Happened last week. Just starting to make waves. Please see Neve Gordon’s X account.