At the dawn of Yom Kippur—the most solemn and meaningful day on the Jewish calendar—it is worth holding on to a measure of hope.

True to his trademark hyperbole, calling it “potentially one of the great days ever in civilization,” yet equally mindful of the extraordinary weight of his office, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday succeeded in rallying an unprecedented coalition of Arab and Muslim leaders. His aim: to bring an end to nearly two years of Israel’s war against Hamas’s mass murderers, and to secure the release of all the hostages—both living and dead—who have been held in Gaza since the Hamas-led invasion and massacre of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

In presenting his framework, Trump also offered a long-overdue reminder of how the conflict began and why it persists. He emphasized that, despite the international outcry and Israel’s own internal anguish over the human toll of the war, it was Hamas that launched an unprovoked invasion from territory Israel had fully evacuated. The war continues, he noted, because Hamas refuses to free its captives and lay down its arms.

Trump underscored that after seizing control of Gaza, Hamas diverted resources not to the welfare of its people but to terror: building more than 400 miles of tunnels, weapons factories, and command centers hidden beneath hospitals, schools, and mosques. This strategy, he pointed out, made any Israeli attempt to strike back inevitably devastating, forcing them into a “terrible way to have to fight.”

Still, Trump’s proposal faces immense challenges. There is little reason to believe that Hamas would willingly give up its most powerful bargaining chip—the hostages it has held in underground prisons for nearly two years—especially within the opening days of the framework he presented. The 20-point plan, after all, provides no firm timetable for an Israeli military withdrawal and makes no explicit promise of establishing a Palestinian state.

And more fundamentally, it is hard to see why an organization whose very purpose is the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews would agree to terms so clearly designed to ensure its own elimination.