Another shot at Nobel? White House’s ‘peace’ post after Donald Trump pulls off Israel-Hamas Gaza deal
The White House appeared to make another concerted push for Donald Trump’s long-sought Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday (local time), shortly after the president announced a breakthrough Israel-Hamas agreement brokered by the US and Qatar to end their two-year conflict.
US President Donald Trump listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (off frame) during a joint press conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 29, 2025. (AFP)
“The Peace President,” read a post from the official White House account on X, shortly after Donald Trump declared that both Israel and Hamas had agreed to terms for the release of all hostages held in Gaza.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said in a social media post.
“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” he added.
Israel, Hamas, and Qatar later confirmed the hostage-release deal, marking the first tangible progress toward a ceasefire since the conflict erupted.
Theatrical announcement
It was a typically theatrical moment for the man who loves to publicly boast of being the “peacemaker-in-chief”.
Trump’s top diplomat interrupted a televised meeting at the White House to hand the US president a note and whisper in his ear that a Gaza deal was imminent.
Shortly afterwards, he announced the agreement on his Truth Social network. “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” he posted.
But while the climax played out in front of reporters in the room, most of Trump’s efforts had been behind the scenes, as he sought to pressure a reluctant Benjamin Netanyahu and win Arab support.
The deal and the timing of its announcement could serve a dual purpose: advancing Middle East peace efforts and bolstering Trump’s image as a global statesman ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize announcement on October 10.
News agency Bloomberg reported that the US president’s campaign to secure the Nobel has intensified in recent days, with aides privately lobbying for recognition of his “peace through strength” doctrine.
Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the prestigious prize for resolving “eight conflicts”, but experts predict he will not be the committee’s choice, at least not this year, news agency AFP reported.
Among the conflicts he cites is the India-Pakistan standoff, a claim firmly rejected by New Delhi, which has maintained that no foreign mediation played any role in resolving the tension.
During his first term in office, Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize but ultimately did not win.
Nobel Prize 2025
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced this Friday, October 10. honouring an individual or organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to global peace. The peace prize announcement will conclude a week of recognitions across disciplines, including medicine, physics, chemistry, and literature.
What we know about the deal
The agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework resulted from indirect talks in Egypt, just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel that triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza.
Trump announced that both Israel and Hamas had signed off on the first phase of the plan and this would bring the release of all hostages, alive and dead, “very soon” and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the so-called yellow line in Gaza. According to a senior Israeli security source, that is a boundary for an initial Israeli pullback under the Trump plan, news agency Reuters reported.
Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, that includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a hostage-prisoner exchange, but the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire.
