President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first phase of a ceasefire deal — but there are significant lingering questions about what the 20-point plan will mean for the future of the Gaza Strip.
“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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
What is Trump’s proposed plan?
Key components of Trump’s proposal include:
- The release of all living and dead hostages in Gaza within 72 hours of Israel accepting the agreement.
- Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life-sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Palestinians detained after Oct. 7, 2023.
- A requirement for Hamas to lay down its arms, and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.
- The delivery of humanitarian aid and the installation of a civilian governing authority for Palestinians.
What happens next?
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that they were moving to “adjusted deployment lines soon” but warned that parts of Gaza were still a “dangerous combat zone.”
But a ceasefire would take effect in Gaza “within 24 hours” of a government meeting set for Thursday evening, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office told reporters.
Following that 24-hour period, a 72-hour window would open in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages. Earlier, the White House said it expected hostages to be released Monday. Forty-eight hostages remain to be returned, of which Israel says it believes 20 are still alive.
An Israeli official briefed on the matter told NBC News that all living hostages would be released at one time.
The agreement comes almost two years to the day after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Since then, Israel has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Gaza’s future?
The first phase of Trump’s plan does not address Gaza’s medium- and long-term future. With most of Gaza’s buildings damaged or destroyed in Israel’s offensive, according to the United Nations, and its population largely forced from their homes, what comes next is an urgent question.
Trump’s plan says the enclave should be temporarily governed by a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” overseen by a “Board of Peace” led by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
That is until the Palestinian Authority, which controls part of the occupied West Bank and is the Palestinians’ main representative internationally, can be “reformed,” according to the plan.
Meanwhile, Hamas has agreed to participate in the hostage and prisoner exchange but has not said it will disarm and disband — a key stipulation of Trump’s proposal.
The post What to know abpagreed on first phase of Gaza truce plan appeared first on NBC News.
