The dramatic announcement of a deal between Israel and Hamas has raised hopes that a horrific two-year conflict could be at its end.
President Trump has been at the fore in lauding the deal, referring to it as a “momentous breakthrough” Thursday.
Trump has also underscored what he sees as global support for the agreement and has even held out the possibility of “everlasting” peace in the Middle East.
Such a goal is far from being accomplished, however — and there are big questions even about the current deal.
Here are five big takeaways.
The obvious point is the most important: The deal offers the prospect of lifting a burden of suffering from a huge number of people.
The Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, killed almost 1,200 people, with approximately 250 more taken hostage.
In the two years since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli assault on Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza have also died from enforced malnutrition — a toll that the local health ministry said last month had reached at least 440 people, including 147 children.
The deal announced Wednesday is understood to include the release of all living Israeli hostages and the remains of those who died in captivity.
The total, living and dead, is believed to be 48, with about 20 still alive. On Thursday, Trump said he expected the hostages to be released Monday or Tuesday next week.
The agreement appears to include a cessation of hostilities and a commitment on Israel’s part to release many Palestinian prisoners, including some of those who have been held without charge.
According to The Associated Press, a senior Hamas official said in a televised speech Thursday that the United States had given undertakings that the conflict would be ended completely.
“We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Khalil al-Hayya said, the news agency reported.
A silencing of the weapons, an infusion of aid into Gaza and the return of the hostages would all be huge developments.
Time will tell if the president’s belief in the possibility of an enduring peace is borne out. The historical record on that question is bleak.
Even so, the “phase one” agreement is a big achievement for Trump.
The president appears to have put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign up, while also marshaling Arab nations, including Egypt and the Persian Gulf states, to use their leverage with Hamas.
Trump has made no secret of his desire to get the Nobel Peace Prize. This year’s recipient will be announced Friday morning, though it would be a shock if Trump received it, in part because his overall worldview is assumed to be off-putting to the Norway-based award committee.
Former President Obama was the most recent American to win the prize, which was controversially awarded to him in 2009, his first year in office.
It is notable that Trump is coming much closer to reaching a full peace in Gaza than former President Biden did during his time in office.
Biden’s perceived reluctance to use American leverage more forcefully with Israel sparked outrage among progressives and other pro-Palestinian voices. Some of that discontent appears to have hurt then-Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.
There is a lot that remains unknown — much of it centered on some of the most vexing issues in the conflict.
For a start, it’s not exactly clear what Israel and Hamas have agreed on.
There is, so far, no publicly available document that separates out the “phase one” agreement currently being heralded from the rest of the 20-point road map for peace that Trump released Sept. 29.
The 20-point plan included issues that do not appear close to being settled.
Aside from the central issue of whether the cessation becomes a long-term peace, the 20-point plan requires Hamas to decommission its weapons.
The U.S. road map also calls for the establishment of a Trump-led “board of peace” that would in turn authorize an “apolitical Palestinian committee,” including additional international experts, to run Gaza’s daily affairs.
Hamas does not appear to have said anything about decommissioning. And a senior official with the militant group, Osama Hamdan, reportedly told TV network al-Araby on Thursday that “no Palestinian” would accept the board of peace.
The uncertainty creates wiggle room for hard-liners on both sides who might want to erect roadblocks to a more lasting peace.
The announcement of a deal was met with some celebrations in Israel and a surge of emotion over the apparently imminent release of the hostages.
But not everyone is happy.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has announced his Jewish Power party will not support the agreement.
Ben-Gvir, who has past convictions in Israeli courts for supporting far-right terrorism, is commonly seen as one of the two most hard-line members of Netanyahu’s government, alongside Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich is also opposed to the deal.
The Israeli Cabinet is still widely expected to approve the deal, however.
Some Israelis have become alarmed at the nation’s growing isolation, as condemnation of its actions in Gaza has grown. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, who was Defense minister during the first part of the conflict.
Accusations that Israel has engaged in genocide against the Palestinians have also become more widespread, though they are furiously denied by Netanyahu.
In any event, Trump appears to be trying to bolster Netanyahu’s political standing.
“He’s much more popular today than he was five days ago,” Trump said Thursday.
Trump announced before a Cabinet meeting Thursday that he hopes to travel to Egypt in the coming days for a ceremony marking the deal.
If that trip goes ahead, he is also likely to address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
Details of the trip remain fluid for now, but it will clearly be a chance for Trump to bask in what — for now at least — looks like a significant moment of success.