Checked Mate

he return of Israel’s final deceased hostage, Ran Gvili Hy”d , brought a measure of closure to his family and Israel in general, and means that for the first time since 2014, there are no more Israelis held in Gaza.

The 11th hour battle over whether to proceed with the Trump plan for Gaza, even before all the hostages had been returned, encapsulated the behind-the-scenes struggle over Gaza’s future.

Bibi Netanyahu is careful to keep his disagreements with Donald Trump behind closed doors, but the president’s frontmen and their plans for a postwar Gaza are a different story.

“Witkoff has become a lobbyist for Qatari interests and is taking revenge on Netanyahu for refusing to open the Rafah crossing before the return of the hostage Ran Gvili,” a senior Israeli official was quoted this week in Yedioth Ahronoth, speaking on condition of anonymity.