CAIRO (AP) — A breakthrough deal pausing the war in Gaza has been reached. But will it lead, as U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed, to “a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace”?
It took pressure on both Israel and Hamas from the United States, Arab countries and Turkey, each saying it was time to end a 2-year-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, sparked other conflicts around the region and increasingly isolated Israel.
That push sealed an agreement on a first phase that would free the remaining living Israeli hostages within days in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But it left unanswered a long list of questions over what happens next.
Israel wants to ensure that Hamas disarms. Hamas wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza and is not allowed to restart the war. At the same time, a postwar government for Gaza must be worked out to replace Hamas’ rule. Without that in place, reconstruction is unlikely to take place, leaving Gaza’s more than 2 million people in continued misery.
With no trust between the sides, much relies on continued pressure from the deal’s guarantors — the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. Any hitch in working out those intertwined issues can unravel everything and potentially lead to Israel resuming its campaign to destroy Hamas.
Here is what we know about the deal.
Immediate steps
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to convene his smaller Security Cabinet and then the full Cabinet — expected late Thursday — to approve the deal.
A partial pullback of Israeli forces in Gaza will then start, according to Arab officials and a Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the text of the accord has not been released.
The extent of the withdrawal has not yet been made public, but Hamas officials have said troops will move out of populated areas.
Hamas has agreed to release the 20 living hostages within a few days, likely Monday, and Israel will free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas also will hand over the remains of around 28 hostages believed to have died, though for logistical reasons that may take longer.
At the same time, hundreds of aid trucks will start moving into Gaza, with the numbers growing over time.
Negotiations for the next phases would then begin.
Troop withdrawal
Hamas had long insisted it would not release its last hostages unless Israeli troops leave Gaza completely. Now, after agreeing to free them first, Hamas says it is relying on solid guarantees from Trump that the full withdrawal will happen.
But how long it will take – weeks, months, years — is unknown.
Israel has spoken of keeping troops in a buffer zone within Gaza and in the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land on Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Israel is unlikely to relinquish those areas unless Hamas disarms and the void left in running Gaza is filled by a body that Israel deems palatable.
