There is movement toward a ceasefire and the release of hostages from Gaza with the Trump administration taking office in January, Walid Phares, a former policy adviser for President-elect Donald Trump, said on Newsmax Sunday.
"A Trump administration is connected with Israel and jointly they will put pressure on all these fronts," Phares said on Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "The weakest of all these fronts is with Hamas … and with what happened in Syria you have a division between those who are jihadists, the leader of that movement and then you have still an opposition by secular forces, including in Damascus, but also by Kurds and Christians and the Druze."
The moving part of the equation is with Syria, said Phares.
"Hamas cannot get support" after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, he added. "They are renegotiating themselves, you know, a new deal with the Islamist forces in Syria. That is when the administration, the Trump administration, will come in, will help Israel on Hezbollah, will help Israel concerning Gaza, and will force hostage negotiations."
But at the end of the day, he added, "It's really the Islamic regime in Iran that counts."
"What would be the policy of a Trump administration coming into force regarding Iran?" said Phares. "That's the big question."
Phares also on Sunday commented on whether President-elect Donald Trump will able to reach a deal on the war between Ukraine and Russia.
"He's definitely determined to stop the war between Ukraine and Russia, especially because Russia is nuclear and Russia is a large power," said Phares. "But he wants to maintain the existence of the state of Ukraine. He wants to create a balance. He wants to create peace."
Trump has mentioned that by the time he takes office, "the principles of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are being accepted," he added.
"We have seen that on the side of the Kremlin and on the side of that meeting where the Ukrainian president was present," said Phares. "There is a sort of a getting ready for negotiations, so, yes, by the first month or two months of the next year, he will be able to start the process."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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