nuclear-news

What we know about the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and what comes next

The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas includes halting military actions, an Israeli withdrawal, increased humanitarian aid, and a prisoner swap. But it doesn’t guarantee an end to the war or that Israel won’t resume the genocide.

By Qassam Muaddi  October 9, 2025, https://mondoweiss.net/2025/10/what-we-know-about-the-first-phase-of-the-gaza-ceasefire-and-what-comes-next/

Two days after the Israeli war on Gaza entered its third year, Palestinians across the Gaza Strip burst into celebration on Thursday morning after U.S. President Trump announced that a ceasefire deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas. 

The announcement came following four days of talks in Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt, which included a Hamas negotiating team headed by its political chief, Khalil al-Hayyeh, whom Israel attempted to assassinate last month in an airstrike on Doha, Qatar. The Israeli negotiating team was headed by Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer. The ceasefire talks had been renewed after Trump announced his plan to end the war in Gaza in late September.

The known details of the deal include only the first phase of a ceasefire, which includes a halt to military operations, the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an agreed line inside Gaza, the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, and an exchange of prisoners that would see the release of all Israeli captives in Gaza.

According to the Trump plan’s map, Israel would withdraw its forces in an initial phase up to a line that starts from the northern Gaza governorate cities of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia. The line extends east of Gaza City, through the Bureij refugee camp in the central governorate, and east of Deir al-Balah. It then continues to the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, and ends in the east of Rafah.

Shortly after the deal was announced on Thursday, the Israeli Army Radio reported that the Israeli army began to withdraw its forces from Gaza City and its surroundings, where Israel has been conducting a large-scale invasion, forcing up to 900,000 Palestinians to flee the city. 

Palestinian prisoners

The announced deal also includes the release of 20 living Israeli captives in exchange for the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving high sentences, in addition to 1,700 Palestinians who were detained in the Gaza Strip throughout the war.

Israeli reports indicated that the negotiations over the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released were still ongoing in the final hours before the deal was announced. Hamas and the other Palestinian factions insisted on releasing the 303 Palestinians who are serving life sentences for their involvement in attacks that led to the death of Israelis. Israel, on the other hand, only agreed to discuss 289 names, as the remaining 14 are citizens of Israel, and refuses to recognize them as Palestinians, considering them an internal Israeli issue.

In addition, Israel held its veto on several high-ranking names among Palestinian prisoners, namely Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi, the secretary general of the PFLP, Ahmad Saadat, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Hamed, whom the Palestinian factions insisted on. The final list of Palestinian prisoners set to be released has not been made public yet. However, the Qatar-based al-Araby TV quoted sources as saying that negotiations over the names of prisoners have ended, and that both sides have made concessions.

Currently, Israel holds some 11,000 Palestinians in its prisons, a third of whom are administrative detainees, held without charge or trial. About 400 of them are minors.

Humanitarian aid

According to the deal, Israel would also allow the entry of 400 trucks carrying humanitarian aid per day for the first few days, with the quantity later increasing to 600 trucks per day. Before the war, the daily rate of trucks entering Gaza was 500-600 trucks per day, which is considered the minimum required quantity, according to international organizations. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Feltcher, said on Thursday that the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip requires several entry points and security guarantees

The deal also stipulates that Palestinians would be allowed to return to Gaza City and areas of northern Gaza, which have been forcibly depopulated by Israeli forces in recent months. Israel had already displaced the residents of those areas in the final months of 2024 in a large-scale offensive known as “the Generals’ Plan.”

During the offensive, Israeli forces destroyed most residential blocks and buildings, leaving nowhere for Palestinians to return. In late January 2025, as Israel cleared the way back to the area as part of the first ceasefire deal, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to the north in a historic return march.

After the ceasefire went into effect, some people tried to return to north Gaza via al-Rashid Street along the coast, but Israeli tanks positioned nearby fired tank shells at the displaced. At least a million Palestinians continue to be crowded in the narrow coastal Mawasi area in Khan Younis, and in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Political responses

The deal has not been signed yet. Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, held a cabinet meeting late on Thursday to approve the deal. Netanyahu’s account on X shared a post past midnight local time with photos of the cabinet meeting, which was also attended by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and the son-in-law of President Trump, Jared Kushner.

Trump said in a statement to the press from the White House that he will travel to the Middle East and that Israeli captives will be released on Monday or Tuesday. Trump also admitted that around 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. Hamas’s politburo member, Usama Hamdan, said the release of Israeli captives will begin on Monday.

Meanwhile, Israeli bombings continued in Gaza, even after the announcement of the ceasefire deal. The spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, Muhammad al-Mughir, told AFP that since the announcement of the deal, Israeli strikes have targeted several areas in the Strip, especially in the north. Al-Mughir added that Civil Defense teams are having difficulties in reaching survivors due to the damage to roads and the continuous flights of Israeli warplanes in the area.

In Israel, hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voiced their opposition to the deal, stating that they would oppose it in the cabinet, but without pulling out of the government coalition, which the pair have threatened to do in the past.

Hamas, for its part, announced the end of the war in a statement read by its politburo chief, Khalil al-Hayyeh. The Hamas official said that the ceasefire deal was reached “thanks to the perseverance of our people,” adding that “despite the enemy’s attempts to break the agreements, our efforts continued seriously and responsibly in negotiations, and our only goal has been halting the aggression and saving the blood of our people.”

During al-Hayyeh’s live statement, Israeli warplanes bombed and destroyed a large residential building in the center of Gaza City. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, approximately 40 people, including children, are still missing under the rubble.

Next steps

The deal doesn’t include any clauses on the definitive end of the war, the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions, the postwar administration of Gaza, or reconstruction. All of these issues have been relegated to the second phase of the negotiations, which are set to begin immediately after the ceasefire officially takes effect, according to Hamas.

Although U.S. President Trump has repeatedly expressed his will to end the war as a pathway for peace in the Middle East, there is no written guarantee that Israel will not break the ceasefire and resume its bombing of Gaza after the release of its captives, as it did last March

October 11, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

Gaza Deal Requires A Permanent End To Israel’s War on Gaza.

So what is the ultimate significance of this agreement? In my view, if Israel complies with this agreement, it means a hell of a lot for the Palestinians because that would result in a permanent end to the war on Gaza, a permanent withdrawal from much, if not all of Gaza, and the provision of sufficient humanitarian aid uh to the people of Gaza along with the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. These are vitally important developments to be welcomed uh by all people of conscience for uh the people of Gaza. 

Clearly uh the uh most lunatic members of Netanyahu’s cabinet are not being silent about this. They’re not agreeing to it. 

I do remain suspicious on that basis just on the basis of Israel’s long and sorted history of violating ceasefire agreements about whether or not Netanyahu will comply with this agreement. even uh uh substantially let let alone uh completely.

Dimitri Lascaris, Oct 11, 2025

Hours before Israel’s genocide forces began withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, a reporter from Israel’s Kan News published a copy of the agreement between Hamas and Israel providing for a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

In this episode of Reason2Resist, I analyze the terms of the agreement and conclude that it unambiguously requires Israel to end its war on Gaza and to withdraw permanently from most of the Gaza Strip.

I also examine the reactions of Netanyahu’s most extreme Ministers to the Gaza agreement, the reasons for which Donald Trump might finally force Israel to comply with the agreement, and the likely consequences if Israel violates it.

ED. Below I post extracts from this video

“As of now, no agreement has been reached regarding the list of prisoners and the circulating circulating lists concerning the prisoners intended for release …………….

whether the Israelis will release uh resistance leader Maran Barguti, who has been languishing in an Israeli dungeon for over 20 years on uh charges, trumped up charges uh of involvement in terrorist acts against Israelis. ……….

I’d like to note uh that Hamas officials have said repeatedly that the agreement provides for a permanent end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza………there’s much more than that. Uh, paragraph two states, quote, “The war will immediately end upon the approval of the Israeli government.” Close quote. So, here we’re not talking about a suspension of the war. We’re not talking about a pause of the war. We’re not talking even about u a temporary ceasefire. It says the war will immediately end. ……….

upon approval of the agreement, all military operations will be suspended. So there they use the term suspended but and they do not use the word terminated. Uh so the use of the word suspended suggests that under certain circumstances military operations can be resumed……..

key statement. It says that the Israeli military quote will not return close to areas it has withdrawn from as per the attached map quote as long as Hamas fully implements the agreement………

So this agreement clearly envisions a permanent withdrawal from certain parts of the Gaza Strip although we don’t know uh exactly which parts as of yet. Uh and uh moreover, and this too is critically important, the agreement says nothing about the IDF’s withdrawal from parts of the Gaza Strip that it will continue to occupy after the initial withdrawal

the question of course is whether those assurances are worth anything and uh that of course remains to be seen.

So, in any case, and for the reasons I just cited, the agreement clearly envisions a permanent end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and a permanent withdrawal from the vast majority of the Gaza Strip. So, if anyone claims that uh this agreement does not envision a permanent end to Israel’s war in Gaza or a permanent withdrawal, then either they’re lying or they simply haven’t reviewed this agreement carefully or at all. …..

I’m showing you on the screen here, the United Nations Relief Works Agency and other international agencies that are independent of Israel must be permitted to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

This, of course, is important because the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as it’s called, this beast that was established by Israel and the Americans several months ago, purportedly to deliver aid uh to the starving population of Gaza turned out to be nothing but a tool for the mass murder of Palestinians seeking desperately needed humanitarian assistance. GHF assassins murdered more than 2600 Palestinians at aid distribution points since GHF was established several months ago. The assassins also wounded more than 19,000 Palestinian civilians at these aid distribution points during those several months. So it is extremely important, needless to say, that independent humanitarian agencies assume responsibility for distributing aid to the people of Gaza

That agreement provided as follows. Israel would have to allow the entry of sufficient quantities of humanitarian aid, 600 trucks per day, of which 300 are for the north. Included in this were 50 fuel trucks, including the fuel necessary for operating the power plant, trade, and equipment needed for rubble removal, rehabilitation, and operation of hospitals, health centers, and bakeries in all areas of the Gaza Strip. …….

But let’s recall what happened under the January ceasefire agreement. From the time it was agreed, Israel’s genocide forces killed Palestinians on a near daily basis and substantially hindered the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. And in fact, this led to the suspension by Hamas of the release of hostages and uh uh ultimately the uh the release of the hostages was resumed. Uh but there was nearly a blowup of the agreement at that point in time the point came for Israel to withdraw at as it had undertaken to do under the January 19th agreement from Ratha.

Israel refused to withdraw, tore up the agreement and started starving the civilian populationof Gaza. um the flimsy excuse that Israel offered for its killing of Palestinians while the January 19 agreement was in effect, daily killing of Palestinians and uh its hindrance of humanitarian aid was that uh Hamas it alleged was violating the deal with delays in providing the names of hostages. ….

So what is the ultimate significance of this agreement? In my view, if Israel complies with this agreement, it means a hell of a lot for the Palestinians because that would result in a permanent end to the war on Gaza ….

Now, there’s one other aspect of this prisoner exchange agreement that is, in my view, particularly odious. namely paragraph 5G prohibits any public ceremonies or media coverage of the release of prisoners and hostages.

Now, I can understand if Israel were demanding uh that there be no ceremonies involving uh the release uh at least

16:31ceremonies in the Gaza Strip uh involving the release of its PS.

16:37But uh there’s no conceivable justification for Israel demanding that there be no ceremonies or media coverage of the uh 2,000 or so Palestinians that are being released from its dungeons. Many of them, if not all of them, have been subjected to various levels and forms of torture and severe privation. Uh there’s uh no doubt that that will be apparent apparent from their appearance uh and upon their release uh from prison. They will be asked about this. Uh I’m sure that many of them will be anxious to tell the public and their fellow Palestinians what they endured under the brutalities of Israeli incarceration.  Uh and essentially

this prohibition on ceremonies and media coverage of the release of Palestinian prisoners can only be designed to do two things. And that is first impede uh the delivery of the truth to the public about what was done to those prisoners in jail. Uh and secondly uh to prevent the Palestinians from uniting in what is an important victory uh for the resistance and you know sharing in a moment a desperately needed moment of uh national unity and relief and joy at the release of their brothers and sisters from Israeli dungeons. 

Israeli genocidal regime does everything within its power to prevent the truth of what it is doing to the Palestinian people from reaching uh those of us living here in the West.

 Uh finally, this agreement is important for what it does not say. It does not say uh unlike Trump’s 20point proposal that the resistance must disarm. And in fact, it says nothing about disarmament at all. Now, Western media continue to this very day to report without citing any credible identifiable sources that Hamas may be willing to agree to a complete or partial disarmament uh by, for example, a partial disarmament might involve uh Hamas giving up its missiles but retaining its uh small arms. Uh, however, Hamas has consistently and emphatically denied these reports.

Israel, remains armed to the teeth. If anybody should be required to disarm first, it should be the perpetrator of genocide and not its victims.

Now, returning to the one-pager, it also says nothing about the future governance of the Gaza Strip or the presence of foreign troops in Gaza or the departure of Hamas officials into exile…

The United States is sending 200 troops to Israel to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire deal in Gaza. US officials said Thursday. The official said US Central Command will establish a civil military coordination center in Israel to provide security and humanitarian support. The US troops will join soldiers from nations including Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates to provide oversight. The US troops are not intended to go into Gazo, one of the US officials said. So, uh, assuming we’re being told the truth….

The bottom line, my friends, is that the one-page agreement says nothing about the long-term issues confronting the Palestinian people, not even the uh reconstruction of Gaza and uh does not even contain an explicit commitment to negotiate the longer term and underlying issues. Uh and in particular, the agreement says nothing about a Palestinian state.

it also says nothing, not one word about the West Bank where Israel is also committing genocide, albeit at a lower level of intensity than in Gaza.

So what is the ultimate significance of this agreement? In my view, if Israel complies with this agreement, it means a hell of a lot for the Palestinians because that would result in a permanent end to the war on Gaza, a permanent withdrawal from much, if not all of Gaza, and the provision of sufficient humanitarian aid uh to the people of Gaza along with the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. These are vitally important developments to be welcomed uh by all people of conscience for uh the people of Gaza. 

 But at the same time, even if Israel complies fully with the deal, the core underlying injustices of the occupation will persist and no one would or should have the slightest faith in Israel to voluntarily address those injustices in a manner that is fair uh to the Palestinian people. Uh so even if Israel complies fully wit the deal, the core underlying problems will remain.

even worse, of course, Israel might simply flush the agreement down the toilet once it has its PS back.

When it comes to the question of whether Israel will comply, uh I think we can glean a lot from examining the reactions of the most lunatic ministers uh in Israel’s cabinet. Those who are typically referred to by the press as far although again any rational human being would regard every single member of Netanyahu’s uh cabinet as being far right. and in particular uh the arch war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

Now uh why do I say we can uh divine Israel’s true intentions from their reaction? Because if they the most lunatic members of his cabinet approve of the deal even grudgingly or if they are quiet about it uh then the most logical inference is that Netanyahu has given them private assurances that he’ll break the deal, resume the mass murder of Palestinians and reoccupy the Gaza trip.

So, this of course raises the question of how the lunatics uh have responded thus far. And here you’ll see an article that was published this morning at 3:32 a.m. by the Times of Israel. Uh Gaza ceasefire takes effect as the government approves deal to free the hostages. The subheading there, uh most far-right ministers vote against agreement to halt fighting with Hamas. Kushner and Witoff tell cabinet that IDF’s bravery, yes, the latte sipping baby killers are being lauded for their bravery by uh Kushner and Whitov. Uh but uh they commend Netanyahu’s difficult decisions and say that those decisions enabled the agreement.

Now the Times of Israel goes on and reports as follows. Netanyahu’s office announced the approval of the deal but did not immediately provide a vote tally though the agreement was opposed by national security minister Bengavir Negev Galilee and national resilience minister Yitsak was of and heritage minister am elyahu of the farright Otma Yahudate party. If I’m not mistaken, Eli Yahu was the uh the psychopathic lunatic who at some point during the genocide called for Israel to nuke Gaza.

Uh in any event, the Times of Israel article article goes on and says, “Far right leaders have been critical of the deal with Smootrich announcing on Thursday that religious Zionism would not vote in favor. Speaking with the Times of Israel, a party source said that it remained up in the air whether or not the far-right faction would bolt the government. Bengavir had also announced ahead of the cabinet meeting that Utma Yehudit would vote against the first phase of the deal in which Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for all four Israeli 48 Israeli hostages held in Gaza. So 48 I think refers obviously not only to the 20 living PS but also the remains of 28 uh other captives uh who died in captivity.

now uh what is my take uh on these revelations? I I do draw some encouragement from them. Clearly uh the uh most lunatic members of Netanyahu’s cabinet are not being silent about this. They’re not agreeing to it. 

I do remain suspicious on that basis just on the basis of Israel’s long and sorted history of violating ceasefire agreements about whether or not Netanyahu will comply with this agreement. even uh uh substantially let let alone uh completely.

So uh let’s move on and uh let’s talk about the allimportant question of what the Trump is going to do to ensure Israel’s compliance. Now some are saying that Trump is serious this time about bringing an end to the war in Gaza because he desperately wants the Nobel Peace Prize. I understand that the winner of that peace prize is going to be announced today.

And let me say in passing that in a sane and decent world, the winner of 1that peace prize would be Francesca Albani, the extraordinarily brave, intelligent, and eloquent UN special rapaturur for the human rights situation in occupied Palestine. I’ve read reports that she’s been nominated. uh but frankly I don’t have much confidence in the Nobel committee to award the prize…

the main motivation that Trump has for doing this deal is because he wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I do recognize that he is extraordinarily narcissistic and a megalomaniac and I don’t doubt for one second that he wants this peace prize uh and that he’d love to have this peace prize.

But if he was so enamored of the Nobel Peace Prize, why did he allow Israel to tear up the agreement back in March and then begin to starve the civilian population of Gaza? …..

For example, um Donald Trump, I if I were him, I would be deeply concerned about the midterm elections. Uh right now, Donald Trump’s uh approval rating uh is very low. …

Uh he came into the White House and immediately began to involve America in new wars. uh and all of his rhetoric and all of the energies that he uh claimed to have invested in bringing an end to the Ukraine war have come to nowt. Donald Trump is now fully on board with the enterprise of uh Ukraine. He said as much with Ukraine trying to recapture all of its territory, which is a practical impossibility.  There’s no indication whatsoever that Donald Trump is going to come anywhere close to doing what’s necessary to bringing that war to an end

so basically he has betrayed his base the president of peace. And uh if this genocide were to continue right up until the midterms, have no doubt about the fact that uh Netanyahu is capable of carrying this on for years to come. As long as there is a, you know, there are bullets in the guns of the Israeli military and bombs in the, you know, aircraft bays of the war planes supplied by the United States to the Israeli Air Force. uh they will continue to kill uh Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank, and then probably also in East Jerusalem, and within the 1948 boundaries of Israel itself. 

Uh he’s basically uh you know using the United States Constitution as toilet paper running roughshot over the basic civil liberties of Americans uh you know engaging in outrageous overreach of the executive powers of the president. Uh so uh I think he must be quite concerned about this and to me that is probably the biggest point of pressure on Donald Trump to bring this slaughter to an end. his concern about the midterm elections. ….

And of course, the Zionist lobby must be very concerned……

also at the same time the United States, Germany and other Western military suppliers of Israel have been supplying Ukraine. And that is a conflict that has consumed even more munitions uh than Israel has consumed, I would imagine. So you’re looking at highly depleted weapon stocks, uh a demoralized and exhausted army, uh various forms of crisis within the Israeli military. Uh I would not at all be surprised if you know uh people within the Israeli military itself have secretly or perhaps not so secretly appealed to the Trump regime uh to bring this to an end. And there may be people, powerful and influential people in the Zionist lobby in the United States who are in contact with the uh Israeli military and understand the gravity of 1the situation who have been politely and quietly requesting that Donald Trump bring this to an end when it’s so obvious that Netanyahu himself uh was unwilling to do so. So again, I think this is likely to be much more important to Donald Trump than uh the Nobel Peace Prize. 

 Finally, let me offer a perspective on what will happen if Israel does does what it always has done and treats this agreement like toilet paper. Well, uh in my uh submission to you, my friends, uh that would put Israel in an even worse place than it is now. And it’s already in a very very dark place…..

 think it will be much harder much harder for Netanyahu to uh to uh argue that the violence should be continue particularly violence directing civilians uh if these uh hostages have been returned or these PS have been returned to Israel. uh in a sense at a bare minimum what’s going to happen here in addition to the release of Palestinian prisoners which is in and of itself is very important and even if this is just a temporary pause in the bombing of the people of Gaza and even if the increase in humanitarian aid is substantial but temporary uh those are certainly good things important things vitally important things for the civilian population of Gaza

But uh I think that in effect by handing over the PS the resistance has situated itself more firmly on the moral high ground. And if we see a resumption now of the horrors that the Palestinians have endured for the past two years, um I think that you are going to see an even more rapid and precipitous decline in the standing of Israel in the West in the broader world. And it is already arguably the most detested so-called country on God’s green earth.

Uh so one way or another, this thing is coming to an end. This genocide will not succeed.

it’s just a question of when, not if. Perhaps now is the time. Perhaps we’re going to have to wait a little longer. But that day is coming and judgment day is coming for all the criminals who perpetrated this crime.

This is Demetri Lceris coming to you from Kalamat Greece on October 10th, 2025. https://reason2resist.substack.com/p/revealed-gaza-deal-requires-a-permanent?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2811845&post_id=175824008&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

October 11, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, politics international | Leave a comment