Trump’s Middle East Peace Gamble Pays Off—But Gaza Storms Still Rage

Paul Riverbank, 12/13/2025Trump’s peace plan brings new diplomacy, but Gaza’s people still face storms and hardship.

Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, returns from the region brimming with optimism. In an interview with Fox News Digital following a tour that cut a jagged arc through Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, Waltz insisted, “It’s night and day to where we were a year ago.” He credits President Trump’s much-discussed Israel-Gaza framework with pulling the region back from the brink.

Waltz describes the latest American approach: not boots on the ground in Gaza, but a small cohort—roughly a hundred U.S. troops—working alongside international organizations, Arab partners, Israelis, and, as he puts it, “in contact with Palestinians” to coordinate humanitarian and military efforts. “America isn’t going it alone,” Waltz emphasizes, drawing attention to what he calls Trump’s “burden-sharing” doctrine. Troops and aid workers from places as disparate as Indonesia and Azerbaijan are now present. “Dozens are helping under President Trump’s leadership,” Waltz says.

The Trump plan asks Israel to leave Gaza, making room for what’s described as a transitional Palestinian technocrat council to handle day-to-day life. Rather than a classic handover, this effort falls under a novel, somewhat experimental “international Board of Peace,” which Waltz touts as unprecedented—with President Trump himself supposedly chairing this council alongside handpicked leaders. The arrangement’s legitimacy, Waltz claims, was cemented at the UN, with his own efforts corralling global approval.

But while the diplomats shake hands in conference halls, Gaza’s camps have suffered the latest in a series of winter hammer-blows. Reports of “a powerful storm sweeping through Gaza, leaving 800,000 people in danger,” as described by the BBC, evoke grim images. The International Organisation for Migration warns of tent settlements washed away; at least a dozen buildings have collapsed. For those living through it, the contrast between high-level progress and the assault of the elements is stark. In one camp, families have used broken cinder blocks and frayed rope to keep their shelters upright, but rain eats through the patchwork. Women scoop water out with plastic bowls; children huddle on damp mattresses.

Waltz points to a raft of diplomatic “firsts”: new rounds of the Abraham Accords, the apparent blunting of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and hostages taken out of the tunnels. “It is truly incredible. It is night and day to where we were,” he tells interviewers, nearly in disbelief.

Yet ask the people lining up for a ration of bread, or shivering under wind-torn canvas, and the light has yet to break. Evening descends quickly on Gaza—not just literally, but metaphorically too, as families brace for hunger and cold.

In the end, the region’s crossroads is more than a metaphor. Peace is measured not only in resolutions or new committees, but in something far more tangible: safe beds, dry shelter, and the quiet hope that by next year, these storms will have passed—for good.

On a windswept stretch of tents near Gaza, battered by cold rain and surging floodwater, peace can seem like a far-off promise. Less than twelve months ago, this entire region seemed sketched in darker shades: Iran’s nuclear shadow lengthened, rockets screamed out of southern Lebanon, and tunnels beneath Gaza concealed terrified hostages. Today, some say the Middle East is a changed world—though for those bedding down beneath tarps, change is a matter of degrees.Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, returns from the region brimming with optimism. In an interview with Fox News Digital following a tour that cut a jagged arc through Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, Waltz insisted, “It’s night and day to where we were a year ago.” He credits President Trump’s much-discussed Israel-Gaza framework with pulling the region back from the brink.Waltz describes the latest American approach: not boots on the ground in Gaza, but a small cohort—roughly a hundred U.S. troops—working alongside international organizations, Arab partners, Israelis, and, as he puts it, “in contact with Palestinians” to coordinate humanitarian and military efforts. “America isn’t going it alone,” Waltz emphasizes, drawing attention to what he calls Trump’s “burden-sharing” doctrine. Troops and aid workers from places as disparate as Indonesia and Azerbaijan are now present. “Dozens are helping under President Trump’s leadership,” Waltz says.The Trump plan asks Israel to leave Gaza, making room for what’s described as a transitional Palestinian technocrat council to handle day-to-day life. Rather than a classic handover, this effort falls under a novel, somewhat experimental “international Board of Peace,” which Waltz touts as unprecedented—with President Trump himself supposedly chairing this council alongside handpicked leaders. The arrangement’s legitimacy, Waltz claims, was cemented at the UN, with his own efforts corralling global approval.But while the diplomats shake hands in conference halls, Gaza’s camps have suffered the latest in a series of winter hammer-blows. Reports of “a powerful storm sweeping through Gaza, leaving 800,000 people in danger,” as described by the BBC, evoke grim images. The International Organisation for Migration warns of tent settlements washed away; at least a dozen buildings have collapsed. For those living through it, the contrast between high-level progress and the assault of the elements is stark. In one camp, families have used broken cinder blocks and frayed rope to keep their shelters upright, but rain eats through the patchwork. Women scoop water out with plastic bowls; children huddle on damp mattresses.Waltz points to a raft of diplomatic “firsts”: new rounds of the Abraham Accords, the apparent blunting of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and hostages taken out of the tunnels. “It is truly incredible. It is night and day to where we were,” he tells interviewers, nearly in disbelief.Yet ask the people lining up for a ration of bread, or shivering under wind-torn canvas, and the light has yet to break. Evening descends quickly on Gaza—not just literally, but metaphorically too, as families brace for hunger and cold.In the end, the region’s crossroads is more than a metaphor. Peace is measured not only in resolutions or new committees, but in something far more tangible: safe beds, dry shelter, and the quiet hope that by next year, these storms will have passed—for good.