Skeptical Streets: Jerusalem Reacts to President Trump’s 20-Point Gaza Plan
Interviewees express fatigue and mistrust, suggesting the truce may be only a pause rather than a path to resolution
As President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza and regional stabilization begins to take shape, Israelis and visitors in Jerusalem offered a range of views on whether the ceasefire will hold—and whether the American president’s strategy can bring lasting peace. In a new street interview video from The Media Line, many voiced doubt that Hamas or Israel can sustain calm after nearly two years of war.
“This war should have ended,” said Orel, a Jerusalem resident. “You can’t fight forever. At some point, a compromise has to be reached. … I don’t have confidence they will uphold this one.”
Andreas, visiting from Germany, said Hamas would only stop fighting if “really under pressure,” while M., another Jerusalemite, described the group as inseparable from its weapons: “Hamas equals weapons. There’s no such thing as Hamas without weapons.”
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Natan, also from Jerusalem, insisted Israel must maintain “control and sovereignty over all areas [of the West Bank and Gaza Strip], A, B, and C,” arguing that Hamas’ ideology makes disarmament impossible.
Doug, a visitor from Canada, called the truce temporary. “It’s a truce. … The war keeps going on,” he said.
Nadine, from Beit El, an Israeli settlement north of Ramallah in the West Bank, was more blunt: “When you’re dealing with hostile, violent people, that’s what they know and that’s what they do.”
The interviews capture a tense mix of fatigue, cynicism, and guarded realism—echoing the sense that even with a ceasefire in place, neither side believes this is the end.
