Gaza truce enters delicate phase as hostages and prisoners freed but core disputes persist
Israel and Hamas implemented the first stage of a US-brokered ceasefire on Monday, exchanging hostages and prisoners and easing aid flows into the Gaza Strip. The breakthrough has lifted immediate pressure on negotiators, but leaves the hardest questions unresolved: the future of Hamas’s arms, who governs Gaza, and whether any path toward Palestinian statehood will follow.
Twenty living hostages were reunited with families in Israel, scenes of relief punctuated by the return of four bodies and the expectation of more remains as rubble is cleared. For many Israelis who have marched weekly for a comprehensive deal, the releases deliver long-awaited closure; for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they may also reduce the domestic urgency to press rapidly into subsequent phases of the agreement.
On the Palestinian side, hundreds of detainees, including life-sentence prisoners and Gazans held since the war, were bussed to the West Bank, Gaza, or into exile, greeted by crowds flashing V-signs and families embracing at Beitunia and Khan Younis. Joy at homecomings sat alongside the stark reality in Gaza: shattered infrastructure, a hollowed-out economy and basic services under strain, even as aid convoys picked up speed under the truce’s terms.
President Donald Trump, whose team shepherded the framework with Qatari and Egyptian mediation, traveled to the region to mark the deal, urging Israeli lawmakers to convert battlefield gains into a broader peace. In Egypt, he joined a summit convened by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi with regional and European leaders to operationalise the next steps. Mr Netanyahu, citing a Jewish holiday, did not attend, but told the Knesset he remained committed to an agreement that “ends the war by achieving all our objectives.”
The first phase mandates the release of all remaining living hostages, the return of deceased captives’ bodies on a rolling basis, an Israeli repositioning out of defined urban areas, and a surge of humanitarian assistance. Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned any delays in returning remains would be treated as a violation.
Beyond that, the agenda grows more contested. Israel wants a permanently disarmed Hamas; the group rejects surrender of its arsenal and insists on full troop withdrawal. The IDF has pulled back from significant sections of Gaza City and Khan Younis but remains in Rafah, northern border zones, and the buffer along Israel’s perimeter.
Governance is equally fraught. The US plan envisions an international oversight mechanism, paired with Palestinian technocrats, to manage essential services, backed by an Arab-led security force and Palestinian policing. A reformed Palestinian Authority could play a role over time, an idea Mr Netanyahu has long opposed and which Hamas says should be decided by Palestinians, not external actors. Around 200 US troops are in Israel to help monitor the ceasefire.
Statehood lingers over the talks. Arab capitals supportive of the framework have signalled they expect a political track alongside reconstruction. Mr Netanyahu’s coalition remains opposed to a two-state outcome; opposition figures say permanent calm is unlikely without it.
The conflict began with Hamas’s 7 October 2023 assault, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 people, the territory’s health ministry says—a toll the UN cites while noting it does not distinguish fighters from civilians. The war spilled across borders, triggering exchanges with Hezbollah, Yemeni Houthi attacks, and strikes involving Iran.
The initial prisoner-hostage swaps will test the fledgling architecture of the truce: verification, sequencing, and the ability of all sides to restrain spoilers. For families of the dead and missing, the focus remains painfully immediate, recovering loved ones and remains from beneath collapsed neighbourhoods.
For diplomats, the horizon is longer. Disarmament, withdrawal, policing and governance are interlocking pieces that must move broadly in tandem. Each has domestic costs for leaders in Jerusalem, Gaza and Ramallah, and for regional backers. The promise of reconstruction, and the prospect, however distant, of a durable political settlement, will be the currency offered to keep the process moving.
If the next steps falter, the risk of relapse is clear. If they hold, Monday’s reunions could be remembered as the moment a war began to end, rather than simply to pause.
By I. Constantin
