Immediate steps
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his smaller security cabinet and then the full cabinet early on Friday AEDT 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.
A truck carries a military tank from inside the Gaza Strip in southern Israel following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting.Credit: AP
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.
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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.
An initial 20-point plan issued by Trump last week called for an Arab-led international security force to move into Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It said Israeli forces would leave areas as those forces deploy.
It is not known whether that system will be followed or an alternative will be negotiated.
Disarmament
Hamas long refused to give up its weapons, saying it had a right to armed resistance until Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories ends.
A member of the Egyptian Red Crescent inside the aid warehouse in Al-Arish, near the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
For Israel, it’s a key demand. Netanyahu has repeatedly said its campaign will not end until Hamas’ military capabilities are dismantled, including the network of tunnels built around the territory.
There are signs, however, that Hamas could agree to a “decommissioning” of its offensive weapons, handing them over to a joint Palestinian-Egyptian committee, according to the Arab officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Future government
Israel has said it wants a Gaza purged of Hamas influence. But it has also rejected giving any role to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority or any arrangement that could lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, has agreed to step down from governing the territory and hand over governance to a body of Palestinian technocrats.
What takes its place is still uncertain.
Under Trump’s plan, agreed to by Netanyahu, an international body – the Council of Peace or Board of Peace, as both names have been floated – will govern.
It would hold most power while overseeing the administration of Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. It would also hold the commanding role of directing reconstruction in Gaza. Trump’s initial 20-point plan called for former British prime minister Tony Blair to lead the body.
Hamas has so far not agreed, saying Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians in light of their rights to sovereignty.
The stakes
Israelis celebrated the agreement announced overnight after three days of talks in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. For much of the Israeli public, freeing the last of the hostages held for two years has been their top priority.
But Palestinians in Gaza were more uncertain. There was relief that the relentless bombardment and ground offensives may stop for a time and aid may flow in.
People gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday to celebrate following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a plan to pause the fighting.Credit: AP
But there was also scepticism and worry over how long any pause in fighting would last, whether hundreds of thousands will be able to return to their homes, and whether Gaza – its cities largely in ruins – will ever be rebuilt.
Many Palestinians fear Israel will take any breakdown in the talks as a chance to resume its assault. For months, Netanyahu and his hard-line allies have insisted they will keep long-term direct security control over Gaza and have spoken of pushing out its Palestinian population, ostensibly on a “voluntary” basis. In Gaza, many believe that remains Israel’s objective.
Pressure from the US and its allies – if it continues after hostages are out – could prevent Israel from relaunching a full-fledged war.
But there is another, murkier scenario.
If Hamas and Israel cannot reach a final deal or negotiations drag on inconclusively, Gaza could slide into an unstable limbo, with Israeli troops still holding parts of it and Hamas still active.
In that case, Israel would be unlikely to allow significant reconstruction, leaving Gaza’s population languishing in tent camps or shelters.
AP
