ISTANBUL: Gaza&#39;s future must be Palestinian-led and avoid any new system of tutelage, Turkey and six of its top Muslim allies said Monday after talks in Istanbul. Turkey, which played a central role in forging the now shaky three-week-old ceasefire, is pushing for Muslim nations to bring their influence to bear on the reconstruction of the embattled territory. &quot;Our principle is that Palestinians should govern the Palestinians and ensure their own security, the international community should support this in the best possible way -- diplomatically, institutionally and economically,&quot; Turkey&#39;s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after the talks. &quot;Nobody wants to see a new system of tutelage emerge,&quot; he told a news conference. Brokered by US President Donald Trump, the October 10 ceasefire -- which halted two years of continuous bloodshed -- has been tested by fresh Israeli strikes and claims of Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers. The talks involved top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia. All of them were called to a meeting with Trump in September on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, just days before he unveiled his plan to end the Gaza war. &quot;We&#39;ve now reached an extremely critical stage: we do not want the genocide in Gaza to resume,&quot; Fidan added, saying all seven nations supported plans for the Palestinians to take control of Gaza&#39;s security and governance. Fidan, who held talks at the weekend with a Hamas delegation led by its chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, said the Islamist movement was &quot;ready to hand Gaza to a committee of Palestinians&quot;. He also expressed hope that reconciliation efforts between Hamas and the rival West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, &quot;will bear fruit as soon as possible,&quot; saying inter-Palestinian unity would &quot;strengthen Palestine&#39;s representation in the international community&quot;. Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Hamas was &quot;determined to adhere to the (truce) agreement&quot; and urged Muslim states to play &quot;a leading role&quot; in Gaza&#39;s recovery. &quot;We believe the reconstruction plan prepared by the Arab League and the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)should be implemented immediately,&quot; he said of the plan unveiled in March. &#39;Task force needs UN mandate&#39; Turkey has been instrumental in backing Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Fidan said it was crucial that the emerging International Stabilisation Force that will monitor the Gaza ceasefire under Trump&#39;s plan, have a &quot;mandate defined by a UN Security Council resolution and a framework for legitimacy&quot;. Washington is currently working with Arab and international partners to decide on the composition of the force, with Turkey hoping to play a role, despite fierce opposition from Israel. &quot;The countries we&#39;ve spoken with say they will decide whether to send troops based on ... the ISF&#39;s mandate and authority,&quot; Fidan said. &quot;First, a general consensus needs to be reached on a draft, then it needs to be approved by the members of the Security Council. &quot;And it needs to be free from vetoes by any of the permanent (UNSC) members,&quot; he said of a blocking move frequently used by key Israel ally Washington. Israel has long viewed Turkey&#39;s diplomatic overtures with suspicion over Ankara&#39;s close ties with Hamas and adamantly opposes it joining the task force that is meant to take over after Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza. A Turkish disaster relief team, sent to help efforts to recover the remains of those trapped under the rubble -- including Israeli hostages seized by Hamas -- has been stuck at the border because of Israel&#39;s refusal to let them in, according to Ankara.

Middle East

"Our principle is that Palestinians should govern the Palestinians and ensure their own security, the international community should support this in the best possible way -- diplomatically, institutionally and economically," Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

Turkey, Muslim allies say Palestinian self-rule key to Gaza future

WASHINGTON: US envoy Jared Kushner, when asked about the prospect of a Palestinian state, which most governments worldwide now recognize but Israel and the United States do not, said it was &ldquo;too early to tell.&rdquo; Israel should help the Palestinians &quot;thrive&quot; if it seeks regional integration after the Gaza war is over, said Kushner, who has been involved in mediation efforts for a ceasefire. &quot;The biggest message that we&#39;ve tried to convey to the Israeli leadership now is that now that the war is over, if you want to integrate Israel with the broader Middle East, you have to find a way to help the Palestinian people thrive and do better,&quot; Kushner told CBS News in an interview that aired on Sunday. The interview preceded fresh Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. Kushner, who is also US President Donald Trump&#39;s son-in-law, helped broker landmark deals during his first term in office that saw several Arab governments normalize ties with Israel. &lsquo;Joint security and economic opportunity&rsquo;In the CBS interview, he said that the situation remained &quot;very difficult,&quot; but he was looking for &quot;joint security and economic opportunity&quot; to guarantee that Israelis and Palestinians &quot;can live peacefully side by side in a durable way.&quot; On Monday, Kushner returned to Israel alongside Trump&#39;s special envoy Steve Witkoff for a visit that is expected to see them meet with Israeli government officials. Referring to the situation in Gaza since the October 10 ceasefire began, Kushner said: &quot;Hamas right now is doing exactly what you would expect a terrorist organization to do, which is to try to reconstitute and take back their positions.&quot; But he argued that if &quot;a viable alternative&quot; emerges, &quot;Hamas will fail, and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future.&quot;

Says, 'biggest message we've tried to convey to the Israeli leadership is … if you want to integrate Israel with the broader Middle East, you have to find a way to help the Palestinian people thrive.' 

 ‘Too early to tell,’ says US envoy Kushner about prospect of Palestinian state  

Reuters

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority is ready to work with US President Donald Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on their effort to consolidate the Gaza ceasefire and start rebuilding, a senior Palestinian official told Blair on Sunday. Trump&#39;s plan for ending the Gaza war holds out the prospect of the Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and led by President Mahmoud Abbas, eventually taking control of Gaza, but only after it completes reforms. Abbas lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007. Trump&#39;s proposal says Hamas must end its rule of Gaza and foresees the territory being run by a Palestinian technocratic committee supervised by an international body chaired by him and including Blair. Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said he had met Blair to discuss the day after in Gaza and making Trump&#39;s plan for &quot;stopping the Gaza war and establishing lasting peace in the region a success&quot;. &quot;We have confirmed our readiness to work with President Trump, Mr. Blair and the partners to consolidate the ceasefire, the entry of aid, the release of hostages and prisoners, and then start with the recovery and reconstruction,&quot; Sheikh wrote on X. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Gaza being run by the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinians collect aid supplies from trucks that entered Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip October 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Trump's plan for ending the Gaza war holds out the prospect of the Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and led by President Mahmoud Abbas, eventually taking control of Gaza, but only after it completes reforms. 

Palestinian Authority ready to help Trump's Gaza effort succeed, says official

DOHA: A Hamas source close to the group&#39;s negotiating committee told AFP on Sunday that it will not participate in post-war Gaza governance, as world leaders prepare to converge on Egypt for a Gaza peace summit. The source&#39;s comments come days after an Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect, and as both sides discuss implementing US President Donald Trump&#39;s 20-point plan to end the war, which calls for Hamas&#39; disarmament and for the group not to be involved in running post-war Gaza. &quot;For Hamas, the governance of the Gaza Strip is a closed issue. Hamas will not participate at all in the transitional phase, which means it has relinquished control of the Strip, but it remains a fundamental part of the Palestinian fabric,&quot; the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Unlike other more top-heavy militant organisations in the region, Hamas&#39; leadership has in the past been divided on key issues, including on the future administration of Gaza. But where there appears to be no division among top members is on the question of disarmament, which the group has long described as a red line. &quot;Hamas agrees to a long-term truce, and for its weapons not to be used at all during this period, except in the event of an Israeli attack on Gaza,&quot; the source said. Another Hamas official who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive topics had earlier told AFP that Hamas&#39; disarmament was &quot;out of the question&quot;. The first clause of Trump&#39;s 20-point plan calls for Gaza to become a &quot;deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors&quot;. The plan also states Hamas will not have a role in future governance of the Strip, and that its military infrastructure and weapons should be &quot;destroyed and not rebuilt&quot;. Under Trump&#39;s plan, a temporary technocratic and apolitical Palestinian committee would be charged with the day-to-day running of public services. The source close to the negotiators said they had asked for mediator Egypt to call a meeting before the end of next week to agree on the composition of this committee, adding that &quot;the names are almost ready&quot;. &quot;Hamas, along with the other factions, have submitted 40 names. There is absolutely no veto over them, and none of them belong to Hamas,&quot; he added.

Palestinian children walk past destroyed buildings in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP)

A Hamas source said the group will not govern post-war Gaza, supporting a technocratic committee instead, amid US-brokered ceasefire and peace plan talks.

Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza after war, says source close to negotiators

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he believed the Israeli ceasefire that began in Gaza on Friday would hold as Israel and Hamas are &quot;tired&quot; of fighting. &quot;It&#39;ll hold. I think it&#39;ll hold. They&#39;re all tired of the fighting,&quot; Trump told reporters, confirming his plans to travel to Israel and mediator Egypt this weekend. Trump said he would meet a &quot;lot of leaders&quot; in Egypt on Monday to discuss the future of devastated Gaza, adding that the meeting would likely be in Cairo. He said he would also address the Israeli parliament when he visits the country earlier on the same day. Trump said he was confident that the Gaza ceasefire would lead to a wider Middle East peace. &quot;Now we have some little hot spots, but they&#39;re very small... They&#39;ll be very easy to put out. Those fires are going to be put out very quickly,&quot; he added.

US president says he will meet a "lot of leaders" in Egypt on Monday to discuss the future of devastated Gaza, adds meeting will likely be in Cairo.



Trump says he believes Gaza ceasefire will 'hold'

WASHINGTON: The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations, and private-sector players, US officials said on Thursday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that were not authorized for release, said US Central Command is going to establish a &ldquo;civil-military coordination center&rdquo; in Israel that will help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war. The remarks provide some of the first details on how the ceasefire deal would be monitored and that the US military would have a role in that effort. After Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a Trump administration plan to halt the fighting, a litany of questions remains on the next steps, including Hamas disarmament, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a future government in the territory. One of the officials said the new team will help monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the transition to a civilian government in Gaza. The coordination center will be staffed by about 200 US service members who have expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, said the official, who noted that no American troops will be sent into Gaza. A second official said the troops would be drawn from US Central Command, which has troops stationed in the Middle East as well as other parts of the globe. That official added that the troops have already begun arriving and will continue to travel to the region over the weekend to start planning and efforts to establish the center. Two other senior US officials who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations publicly offered more details about forces from other countries and what US troops would be doing. Members of the armed forces of Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are expected to be embedded with the team of 200 US troops, according to one of the officials. The American service members will integrate the multinational force and coordinate with Israeli defense forces, the official said. The exact location of where US troops will be positioned is something they will be working to determine on Friday, the other official said. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, highlighted Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday, saying he had worked alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. &ldquo;Cooper &mdash; I hear he&rsquo;s been fantastic,&rdquo; Trump said. Cooper joined the US side of the talks in Egypt this week, according to one of the US officials, and he helped reassure the Arab countries at the negotiating table that the US would put a strong guarantee behind its commitments &mdash; a reassurance the Arab countries then passed along to Hamas. In a show of readiness, Cooper told them he could have a command post up and running in the next two and a half weeks. A breakthrough deal to pause the war in Gaza was reached on Wednesday after the United States and mediators in the region pressured both Israel and Hamas to end the fighting that has devastated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, sparked other conflicts, and 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.

Official says coordination center will be staffed by 200 US service members who have expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, notes no American troops will be sent into Gaza.



US is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support, monitor Gaza ceasefire deal: report

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Thursday all parties have signed the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, adding that Hamas freeing the captives would &quot;bring the end to this war.&quot; The agreement in Egypt follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump, after more than two years of war sparked by Hamas&#39;s October 2023 attack on Israel. Trump said he planned to leave on Sunday for the Middle East. Egypt is planning an event to celebrate the conclusion of the agreement, with the US president also expected to stop in Israel and consider going to devastated Gaza. Despite celebrations in Israel and Gaza and a flood of messages from world leaders hailing the deal, numerous issues remain unsettled, including the plan&#39;s call for Hamas to disarm and a proposed transitional authority for Gaza led by Trump himself. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the Palestinian movement rejected the latter. &quot;No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,&quot; Hamdan told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby. Trump said the issue of Hamas surrendering its weapons would be addressed in the second phase of the peace plan. &quot;There will be disarming,&quot; he told reporters, adding there would also be &quot;pullbacks&quot; by Israeli forces. The Israeli government said the ceasefire was to take hold within 24 hours of meetings on Thursday to approve the deal, under which the military would withdraw from Gaza. Early on Friday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government had &quot;approved the framework for the release of all the hostages &mdash; both the living and the deceased.&quot; Netanyahu had faced pushback from his far-right allies, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying he would vote against the agreement, calling the plan to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 47 hostages remaining in Gaza &quot;an unbearable heavy price.&quot; &#39;Tears of joy&#39;&nbsp;Confirming that the first-phase draft had been signed by &quot;all parties&quot; early Thursday, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that &quot;all of our hostages, the living and the deceased, will be released 72 hours later, which will bring us to Monday.&quot; Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the release of the hostages &quot;should bring the end to this war.&quot; In a rare interview with an Israeli network, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told the Channel 12 broadcaster that &quot;what happened today is a historic moment.&rdquo;&nbsp;&quot;Today, we are very happy that the bloodshed has ceased. We hope it remains this way, and that peace, security, and stability will prevail between us and Israel.&quot; US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner travelled to Jerusalem on Thursday night, where they met both Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, their offices said. Israeli media reported that the pair later participated in the government meeting held to approve the plan. The deal, thrashed out in indirect, closed-door talks in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, also envisions a surge of aid into Gaza, where the UN has declared famine. The announcement sparked joy in Gaza, much of which has been flattened by Israel&#39;s offensive. &quot;Honestly, when I heard the news, I couldn&#39;t hold back. Tears of joy flowed. Two years of bombing, terror, destruction, loss, humiliation, and the constant feeling that we could die at any moment,&quot; displaced Palestinian Samer Joudeh told AFP. In Israel, thousands of people gathered in a Tel Aviv square to celebrate, some holding photos of hostages still in Gaza and waving Israeli and US flags. &quot;We have been waiting for this day for 734 days. We cannot imagine being anywhere else this morning,&quot; said Laurence Ytzhak, 54. While Arab leaders said they hoped the ceasefire would lead to a permanent solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, there was no indication the talks were addressing any of the deeper issues at stake. Hamas has submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase. The list names 250 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,700 others arrested by Israel since the war began, according to a Hamas source. High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti &mdash; from Hamas&#39;s rival, the Fatah movement &mdash; is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media. However, Israel said Barghouti would not be part of the exchange. Explosions continue&nbsp;The talks were taking place under the shadow of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel&#39;s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,194 people, according to the health ministry in the territory, figures the United Nations considers credible. The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children. Gaza&#39;s civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas&#39;s authority, reported several strikes on the territory after the announcement of the deal. AFP journalists and witnesses said more explosions and artillery fire could be heard Thursday evening in southern and central Gaza.

Trump says he planned to leave on Sunday for Middle East; Egypt planning an event to celebrate conclusion of the agreement.



Israel says 'all parties' signed phase one of Gaza deal

Gaitty Ara Anis

WASHINGTON: While Israel and Hamas have signed the first phase of a long-awaited peace agreement, analysts urge &ldquo;necessary caution,&rdquo; warning that without addressing the core political questions of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood, the ceasefire risks becoming yet another short-lived truce. The deal, announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, includes a temporary pause in fighting, a swap of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The announcement sparked cautious optimism across global capitals, but also deep skepticism among regional experts interviewed by Pakistan TV Digital. Canada-based decolonial scholar and activist Dr Sabreena Ghaffar said the euphoria surrounding the truce overlooks painful lessons from the past. &ldquo;In January, we saw a deal made and people rejoiced, but the bombardment didn&rsquo;t stop,&rdquo; she said, noting that over 30 Palestinians had been killed since the latest announcement. &ldquo;Even now, airstrikes continue. Until the root causes are addressed, no ceasefire will hold.&rdquo; According to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, one of the deal&rsquo;s key mediators, an immediate ceasefire must precede the agreement&rsquo;s implementation to prevent further loss of life. Arif Ansar, chief analyst at PolitTact, shared cautious optimism, saying, &ldquo;A ceasefire at all costs saves lives.&rdquo; But he emphasized that the underlying challenges, particularly disarmament and governance, could derail the process. Under the agreement, Hamas and Israel have pledged to begin phased de-escalation. The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack killed about 1,200 Israelis and resulted in 251 hostages. Israel&rsquo;s military aggression in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and injured nearly 170,000, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry, with roughly half of the casualties being women and children. Dr Ghaffar noted that the agreement makes no mention of Hamas disarming.&nbsp; &ldquo;Hamas will disarm when there is a Palestinian state,&rdquo; she stated, arguing that the demand for unilateral disarmament is unrealistic. Ansar agreed, describing Hamas&rsquo;s weapons as &ldquo;an existential and ideological symbol of resistance.&rdquo; Disarmament without a roadmap for statehood, he said, would be seen by Hamas as &ldquo;total moral and political surrender.&rdquo; Analysts also expressed concern over reported plans for a foreign-led &ldquo;Board of Peace&rdquo; to administer Gaza. &ldquo;An externally imposed trusteeship, featuring figures like Tony Blair, will lack legitimacy and fuel resentment,&rdquo; Ansar warned. &ldquo;Any unelected authority risks being branded a new occupation.&rdquo; Dr Ghaffar added that Blair&rsquo;s role would be &ldquo;deeply problematic,&rdquo; recalling his controversial record during the 2003 Iraq War. Both experts stressed that true peace requires addressing fundamental political issues. Sovereignty, self-determination, and justice. &ldquo;Ignoring these in favor of reconstruction or investment-only deals turns peace into a real estate project,&rdquo; said Ansar.&nbsp; Dr Ghaffar concurred, describing Israel&rsquo;s approach as &ldquo;colonial and PR-driven,&rdquo; warning that global opinion may be shifting but &ldquo;not fast enough to save unarmed Palestinians.&rdquo; The analysts agreed that without confronting the legacy of occupation and ensuring accountability, any peace plan would be doomed to repeat history. &ldquo;The Oslo Accords failed for the same reasons,&rdquo; said Ansar. &ldquo;Key questions, statehood, refugees, Jerusalem, were postponed, and that &lsquo;later phase&rsquo; never arrived.&rdquo; As the world cautiously welcomes the latest truce, regional observers insist the real test lies not in ending the violence, but in addressing the injustices that fuel it.

Experts caution that the Gaza ceasefire, while a welcome pause in bloodshed, risks collapse without concrete guarantees on Palestinian sovereignty, disarmament terms, and legitimate post-war governance free from external control.



Skepticism clouds Gaza truce as analysts warn of deeper fault lines

SHARM El SHEIKH: Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed a ceasefire deal to free the living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Here is what we know so far about the agreement that was reached in indirect talks in Egypt:&nbsp;Hostage, prisoner releases&nbsp;Hamas will release 20 living hostages in one go as part of the first phase of the deal, according to a source close to the Hamas negotiating team. Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners: 250 among those serving life sentences, and 1,700 others detained since the start of the war, a top Hamas official within Hamas told AFP, also on condition of anonymity. There has been no indication that Israel will disclose the names of those set for release. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement to secure the release of hostages would only take effect after receiving cabinet approval. &quot;Contrary to Arab media reports, the 72-hour countdown will begin only after the agreement is approved in the cabinet meeting, which is expected in the evening hours,&quot; Netanyahu&#39;s office said. Of the 251 people, Hamas still hold 47 in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.&nbsp;Prisoner lists&nbsp;A key point in the negotiations was a list of Palestinian prisoners submitted by Hamas which it wants released from Israeli jails in the truce&#39;s first phase. High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti -- from Hamas&#39;s rival, the Fatah movement -- is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media.&nbsp;400 trucks of aid&nbsp;A daily minimum of 400 trucks of aid will enter the Gaza Strip for the first five days of the ceasefire, to be increased in following days, the Hamas source said. It also provides for the &quot;return of displaced persons from the south of the Gaza Strip to Gaza (City) and the north immediately,&quot; the source added. The World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said his agency was prepared to &quot;scale up its work to meet the dire health needs of patients across Gaza, and to support rehabilitation of the destroyed health system&quot;. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees welcomed the deal as a &quot;huge relief&quot;, and said it was ready to flood Gaza with desperately-needed food.&quot;We have enough to provide food for the entire population for the coming three months,&quot; the agency&#39;s chief Philippe Lazzarini said on X.&nbsp;&#39;Scheduled withdrawals&#39;&nbsp;The deal stipulates &quot;scheduled withdrawals&quot; of Israeli troops, the Hamas top official said, and includes &quot;guarantees from President Trump and the mediators&quot;. The Israeli military said on Thursday it was preparing to pull back troops in Gaza as part of the deal.&nbsp;Key questions remain&nbsp;Trump&#39;s 20-point peace plan, on which the indirect negotiations were based, calls for the disarmament of Hamas and for post-war Gaza to be ruled by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself. But these points are yet to be addressed. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he hoped the Gaza deal could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. But Netanyahu and members of his cabinet have repeatedly vowed to prevent this from happening.&nbsp;What next?&nbsp;The deal will be formally signed later on Thursday in Egypt, a source with knowledge of the agreement told AFP on condition of anonymity. Israel&#39;s cabinet will meet Thursday at 1500 GMT to discuss a plan to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza, a government statement said. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he will not vote in favour. A Hamas official said negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire would begin &quot;immediately&quot;. Negotiations in Egypt&#39;s resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh are taking place under lock and key in a conference center. Al-Qahera News, linked to Egypt&#39;s state, broadcast footage showing negotiators from Hamas, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and the United States embracing and walking in high spirits. But Hamas and Israeli delegates were positioned in two different rooms, with mediators shuttling between them, and with no indication the foes would ever meet.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire involving the release of 20 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The deal includes aid delivery, troop withdrawals, and indirect talks in Egypt, with key political questions unresolved.

What we know about the new Gaza deal

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday distanced the Pakistani government from the Gaza peace plan presented by the United States and Israel earlier this week, expressing concerns that it failed to address &ldquo;key areas.&rdquo;&nbsp;The 20-point plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, disarmament, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. President Trump has stated that his administration is waiting for Hamas to accept the plan.&nbsp;Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Dar explained that the document presented by the US and Israel on Monday did not cover several important issues discussed in the joint commitment issued by the foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority countries. &ldquo;If these issues are not addressed, they will be,&rdquo; Dar asserted, emphasizing that the immediate objective of their meeting was to stop displacement, achieve a ceasefire, end the bloodshed, and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.&nbsp;Dar clarified that Pakistan&#39;s position aligned with the joint statement from the eight countries, not a statement from Pakistan alone. &ldquo;This is the collective commitment of eight countries, not just mine or the Prime Minister&rsquo;s,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;Regarding President Trump&rsquo;s peace plan, Dar noted that Pakistan understood it as a statement from the US government. &ldquo;We have issued our statement on behalf of eight countries, and we stand by that,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;If there are any differences, we will adhere to this statement.&rdquo;&nbsp;The plan, presented by President Trump on Monday, outlines a roadmap for a ceasefire, the exchange of hostages and prisoners, a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and large-scale reconstruction with international support.&nbsp;A joint statement from the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan welcomed the initiative, praising Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;sincere efforts to end the war.&rdquo;&nbsp;The ministers also reiterated their support for a two-state solution, with Gaza fully integrated into the West Bank under a Palestinian state recognized by international law.

Foreign Affairs

Says all key areas, if they are not covered, “they should have been covered. They will be.”

Articles tagged with "Gaza ceasefire"