Gaza, toward an uncertain future: Hamas and Netanyahu say yes to the truce, but no to Trump's plan

Special Envoy to JerusalemOn Wednesday the world was surprised with The announcement of the agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, hastily negotiated under the auspices of Donald TrumpTwo years after the Palestinian attacks of October 7, which dealt Israel the hardest blow in its history, to which Benjamin Netanyahu responded with an operation of ethnic cleansing and mass destruction that has led to his investigation for genocide and war crimes in international courts, Gaza has been flattened and quietly flattened in Gaza, and the Israeli army has withdrawn from 47% of the Strip's territory. Half a million Palestinians have returned to what remains of the towns and villages in the Strip from which they had to flee, where they have found only rubble. The first phase of Trump's plan is to be completed with the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip—subject to the worst hunger crisis of our time—and the exchange of the last 48 Israeli hostages, both alive and dead, after 735 days of captivity in Gaza, for some 2,000 prisoners. The details of this exchange, such as the names of the Palestinian prisoners to be released, are still being discussed. Beyond that, nothing is certain, and everyone predicts a difficult and lengthy negotiation.

Hamas has already begun rounding up the hostages, according to Trump, and Netanyahu this morning visited the hospitals where they will be taken when they leave Gaza, while Israeli prison officials have begun transferring the Palestinian prisoners to be released, including 250 convicted prisoners. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, whom Netanyahu has banned from operating, has asked for the 6,000 trucks it has prepared at the Rafah border to be allowed through. The association representing international journalists working in Israel has called for immediate access to the international press in the Gaza Strip.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, spoke tonight in Tel Aviv's Hostage Plaza, escorted by the president's daughter, Ivanka, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the architect of Trump's plan and one of Israel's most enthusiastic defenders in the United States. "Despite the pain and fear, he never lost faith. His courage and resilience inspired the world. It was his conviction, coupled with Donald Trump's courageous leadership, that made it possible." When he mentioned Netanyahu, the audience responded with a monumental hiss. "Okay, let me finish. I've been in the trenches with the prime minister, who has also sacrificed so much for this country." The hisses didn't cover the end of his speech.

A forced agreement

In reality, what happened is that, under pressure from Trump, Hamas and Israel have been forced to close an agreement.Neither side could afford to refuse the truce orchestrated by the world's leading power. Hamas could not reject a ceasefire that would alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. And Netanyahu could not refuse the last chance to save the last Israeli hostages. It was the blame game: no one wanted to appear responsible for having squandered this opportunity.

The agreement is also the result of a war that had stalled. Despite the enormous destruction and annihilation of tens of thousands of Palestinians (probably hundreds of thousands, once all the dead can be extracted from under the rubble of Gaza), the Israeli army and society had begun to show signs of war fatigue. In August, Netanyahu, overriding the judgment of his generals, ordered the conquest of Gaza City by October 7. Israeli troops had cleared the northern Gaza Strip of Palestinians and taken control of the southern cities, but the battle for Gaza City, home to more than a million people, was another matter. It was clear that Netanyahu wouldn't achieve his military objective for months.

Likewise, Israel's international isolation was becoming increasingly clear, with protests around the world, and was evident the day the prime minister spoke before a UN General Assembly that ignored him. And Trump, perhaps motivated by his megalomaniacal desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, pulled out a last-minute move that ultimately saved Israel from Netanyahu. Yesterday, in the packed Place des Ostatges, a large banner read Nobel President TrumpFor now, the Republican is already preparing for a massive outpouring of support when he arrives victorious in Jerusalem on Monday to deliver a speech before the Israeli Parliament. He will be the first US president to do so since George W. Bush in 2008.

Starting Tuesday, we entered the Twilight Zone. The next phases outlined in Trump's 20-point plan have already been rejected by both sides. Hamas has said it has no intention of disarming except to hand over its weapons to a future Palestinian state, nor of accepting the tutelage of a transitional authority ruled by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Israel has made it clear that under no circumstances will it accept anything that could be the embryo of a future Palestinian state. Beyond the first phase, positions have not budged an inch.

The plan and the Gaza Strip

According to Trump's plan, Hamas must surrender its weapons, Israel would continue to maintain a military presence along a perimeter of the Gaza border, and an international force, made up largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be in charge of enforcing order within Gaza, while the United States would lead the reconstruction of the Strip into a Middle Eastern Riviera. All this with a 10- to 15-year horizon under a colonial government headed by Blair, which would then cede power to a reformed Palestinian Authority. Hamas and the other Palestinian factions have already rejected this, and Netanyahu continues to say that the Palestinians must disarm and disappear "by fair means or foul."

Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzar emphasizes that everything remains above: "The most urgent thing was to stop the extermination in Gaza. The other points of the agreement will be pending for future negotiation. The important thing is that the Palestinian resistance, with its limited capabilities, has resisted the colonial powers of the world for two years. They are perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Israeli journalist Jack Khoury warns that the process has begun without any direction: "Beyond the first phase, there is no political horizon. The agreement does not address the future governance of Gaza, nor does it establish any permanent monitoring mechanism or a broader diplomatic framework. The first stage could end up being the last."

Signing ceremony

To ensure that everything doesn't go to waste, Trump has announced that he will travel first to Israel on Monday and then to Egypt, where a signing ceremony for the agreement will be held in the resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh to add pressure, hosted by Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt and Turkey, which played a key role in convincing Hamas to accept the handover of the hostages, will be represented at the event; Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, all US allies; and Pakistan and Indonesia, which have supported the Palestinians. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have also confirmed their participation. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish President Pedro Sánchez will also attend, closing the European front of support for the agreement on both sides. Most likely, those who will not be in the photo will be the main protagonists: Hamas and Netanyahu.