Trump and Defense Secretary Mattis
Trump and Defense Secretary MattisReuters

President Donald Trump has reportedly shelved his ‘deal of the century’ peace plan, at least for now, Palestinian Authority media outlets reported on Thursday.

The decision was taken after Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, reportedly recommended that the White House postpone the publication of the initiative because of the political and security crisis in Israel, according to the Palestinian Authority paper Al-Quds.

An unnamed Israeli diplomatic source said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu "prefers no ‎announcement of the plan whatsoever, especially now, amid the ‎recent developments in the region and the political ‎crisis in Israel."

The Trump Administration has been working on the plan for nearly two years and has postponed its publication repeatedly mainly because of fierce Palestinian opposition to the proposal which reportedly envisions a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Ayelet Shaked, the Israeli Minister of Justice, reacted to the news by saying Trump was ‘wasting his time’ by pushing for a peace agreement in Israel at this point in time.

"I think, personally, it's a waste of time. I want peace like anyone else, but I don't believe it's possible to reach an agreement," Shaked told participants in a political conference in Jerusalem.

The senior Israeli minister also expressed pessimism about the duration of the current ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza.

"I think the cease-fire will hold for a few months and then fall apart. If the cease-fire is broken, there will be no option other than fight Hamas with all the means at our disposal, "according to Shaked.

Shaked is probably right on both issues.

The situation in Gaza is a huge problem and will eventually force Israel to take decisive action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad experts and members of the Israeli government say.

As we previously reported Iran was most likely behind the mini-war between Israel and the Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza on Monday and Tuesday last week.

This was confirmed by Nickolay Mladenov the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process who said on Thursday that “there are forces who want to put us all into the abyss of a confrontation.”

Asked about the Iranian influence in Gaza the UN envoy replied, "Since the very first day that the Egyptians first brokered the intra-Palestinian reconciliation agreement in 2017, someone out there has been trying to disrupt it.”

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a notorious terrorist who spent jail time in Israel, has made no secret about who’s really calling the shots in Gaza.

In May this year Sinwar told the Lebanese TV station Al-Mayadeen that Hamas had developed very “powerful and warm ties” with Qassem Soleimani the shrewd commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Iran was supplying Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza with “large amounts of cash, ‘equipment’ and expertise,” according to the Hamas leader.

Sinwar, furthermore, revealed that Hamas and Hezbollah are cooperating on a daily basis and are even conducting “joint operations” against Israel.

Hamas is currently experiencing an unprecedented leadership crisis which could lead to an explosion of violence inside the Gaza Strip.

A severe dispute between former Hamas leader Ishmail Haniyeh and Sinwar over Hamas’ policies has already led to clashes between supporters of the two rivals and to attacks on homes and cars belonging to Hamas officials.

Housing Minister Yoav Gallant now calls for the assassination of Sinwar who is considered fanatical in his hatred for Israel.

“Sinwar is living on borrowed time. He won't end ‎his life in a ‎retirement ‎home," Gallant said on Thursday.

His colleague Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Minister for Public Security agreed with Gallant on the issue of targeted assassinations of Hamas leaders and commanders of the terror groups in Gaza and revealed that Israel is "closer than ever to seizing control ‎of ‎the ‎Gaza Strip." ‎

This all makes clear that Gaza is not exactly ready for peace negotiations but the same can be said of the Palestinian Authority and the population under its control.

PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is again cracking down on Palestinian Arabs who sold real estate property to Jews.

His security forces recently arrested an American-Palestinian Arab who was suspected of involvement in the sale of a house in the Old City of Jerusalem to Israeli Jews.

Israel has now reportedly threatened to destroy PA offices in Ramallah if the PA doesn't release the man from custody.

The IDF later confirmed that it had threatened to send units into Ramallah to free the American Palestinian Arab.

Palestinian Authority Imams even prevented the burial of an Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem who was suspected of selling real estate in Jerusalem to Jews.

The man, who was killed in a car crash, was subsequently buried in a Jewish cemetery after Aryeh Stern, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem ruled an exception would be made because he said the Arab was a righteous gentile.

This all took place before the Shin Beth, Israel’s internal security service, announced that Hamas is once again trying to establish itself in Judea and Samaria in order to carry out new severe terror attacks in Israel.

There will be no peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, said Islamic reformer and Jihad expert Dr. Tawfik Hamid in May.

The conflict is not about a piece of land and can't be solved by approaching it as a 'real estate deal' as Trump previously suggested because it's a Ribat for Allah, a religious war according to Hamid.