Journalist and media personality Samir Omar, head of the news channels sector at United Media Services, responded to a question by journalist Ahmed Abu Zeid about the optimism surrounding the Sharm El-Sheikh peace summit and whether former President Donald Trump raised expectations too high.

In an interview on Al Kahera News Channel, Omar said, “The exaggeration aligns with Donald Trump’s personality; he claimed to have stopped 8 wars in 8 months. But putting that aside, are there reasons to be optimistic? Yes, we described the indirect negotiations between Hamas, Palestinian resistance factions, and Israel as cautious optimism until both parties agreed and the US pushed Netanyahu to accept the deal, alongside efforts by Cairo, Doha, and later Ankara joining the process.”

He added, “We moved from cautious optimism to optimism, but given the Israeli situation and Netanyahu’s government, we should not be overly optimistic. Netanyahu is known to retract agreements, so the guarantee is not only American but also the presence of international powers to continue this path.”

Omar explained that this path must lead to a political settlement based on the two-state solution, with a Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital, and that there will be no calm without achieving this.

He emphasized that reaching a ceasefire and holding the peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh was only possible due to efforts over two years, and that this day will not lead to renewed negotiations unless pressure on Israel continues to implement its promises and follow the political settlement path.

Regarding Trump’s plan, Omar noted it did not mention direct peace between Palestinians and Israelis on the June 4, 1967 borders, nor Palestinian rights or stopping settlement expansion in the West Bank. He said, “Certainly, those who read Trump’s paper won’t reach this city, but those who read the Arab, Islamic, and international positions preceding Trump’s stance know that the idea of the two-state solution conference was founded under Saudi-French leadership, and when President Sisi and foreign ministers of Islamic countries attending the meeting with Trump spoke.”

He continued that all clearly spoke about this vision, stressing that lasting stability and calm will only come from implementing these ideas. He noted this is not new, as the UN and Security Council decided hours after the 1967 aggression that occupying others’ lands by force is illegal and withdrawal to the June 4 lines is required, but Israel rejects this.

Omar clarified, “To be clear, this will not be achieved by American will alone, but also by Palestinian national consensus, restoring unity between Gaza and the West Bank, Arab support for legitimate Palestinian rights, backing from Islamic countries, influential regional states, and countries shaping international decisions. Anyone who thinks the US is the sole main player will reach a wrong conclusion.”

He added that the US is the world’s superpower but there are other influential forces and the power of justice—the Palestinians’ right to an independent state, an end to killing, displacement, and denial of basic humanitarian needs.

He concluded, “We do not want excessive optimism nor pessimism, because if the Sharm El-Sheikh summit path leads to reopening the settlement path, there will be calm and stability, but if the cycle repeats, there will be neither calm nor stability.”