With the remains of one hostage still in Gaza, the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas is nearly complete, after a two-month process plagued by delays and finger-pointing.

Now, the key players — including Israel, the Palestinian militant Hamas group, the United States and a diverse list of international parties — are to move to a far more complicated second phase that could reshape the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan — which was approved by the U.N. Security Council — lays out a vision for ending Hamas’ rule of Gaza. If successful, it would see the rebuilding of a demilitarised Gaza under international supervision, normalised relations between Israel and the Arab world and a possible pathway to Palestinian independence.

But if the deal stalls, Gaza could be trapped in an unstable limbo for years to come, with Hamas remaining in control of parts of the territory, Israel’s army enforcing an open-ended occupation and its residents stuck homeless, unemployed, unable to travel abroad and dependent on international aid to stay alive.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar and a key mediator, said over the weekend that the ceasefire is at a critical point, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to the White House this month to discuss the next steps.

Ceasefire’s next phase and possible challenges

Troops for Gaza: Mr. Trump’s plan calls for the formation of an international force — known as International Stabilization Force — to maintain security and train Palestinian police to one day to take over. That force has not yet been formed, and a deployment date has not been announced.

Some countries — including Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and Indonesia — have expressed willingness to participate. But no firm decisions have been made.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic talks, says partner countries are holding meetings this month to finalise operations. He predicted “boots on the ground” in early 2026.

The force’s command structure and authorities remain unknown.

Hamas says it will oppose any attempts by the force to disarm it, and contributing nations may not want to risk clashes to take away its weapons. Israel, meanwhile, is hesitant to trust an international body with its security needs.

Board of Peace: Mr. Trump has said he will head an international board to supervise a committee of Palestinian technocrats running Gaza’s day-to-day affairs. The board will oversee reconstruction and an open-ended reform process by the Palestinian authority, with the goal of one day allowing the internationally recognised authority to govern Gaza.

So far, Mr. Trump is the only board member officially named, though former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s name has been floated as a possibility. Another U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door deliberations, says members of the board will be announced in the coming weeks.

The key challenge will be forming a board that can work with Israel, Hamas, the mediators and international aid agencies.

Reconstruction: Mr. Trump’s plan calls for an economic development plan to “rebuild and energise Gaza,” which suffered widespread destruction during the war and where most of the territory’s 2 million people are displaced and unemployed.

Still, no such plan has been announced. Egypt is expected to host a conference this month for donor nations to pledge reconstruction aid.

The United Nations has estimated the cost of rebuilding Gaza would amount to $70 billion. Raising that money will be difficult. Even more difficult would be finding a plan acceptable to the many governments involved, along with their private sector partners.

Disarmament: The ceasefire deal calls for Hamas to surrender all of its weapons under the supervision of international monitors. Militants who disarm will be granted amnesty and the option to leave Gaza.

However, Hamas, whose ideology is based on armed resistance against Israel, says it will not disarm until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories.

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told The Associated Press that the group is open to “freezing or storing” its weapons while a political process takes place, perhaps over many years. It is unclear whether that is sufficient for Israel.

Failure to disarm Hamas could lead to renewed fighting with Israel, clashes with international troops and block progress on the rest of the peace plan.

A Palestinian government: The Palestinians are to form a “technocratic, apolitical” committee to run daily affairs in Gaza, under the supervision of the Board of Peace.

The committee’s members have not been announced and Israel’s opposition to having any Palestinians connected to Hamas or the Palestinian Authority on it could make choosing them more difficult.

It is also not clear if the committee will give Palestinians any real voice in the government or will exist only to implement decisions by the Board of Peace. If the committee is seen as just a façade, it risks not gaining public support and some figures may balk at joining it.

Israeli withdrawals: Under the ceasefire, Israel is to withdraw from all of Gaza, with the exception of a small buffer zone along the border. At the moment, Israel retains control of just over half of Gaza.

The plan says further withdrawals will be based upon “standards, milestones and timeframes linked to demilitarisation” to be negotiated by Israel, the U.S., the international force and other “guarantors.” There are no firm timelines for further withdrawals, and Israel may refuse to pull back further. Its military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, called the so-called Yellow Line that divides the Israeli-held part of Gaza from the rest a “new border” that would serve as a “forward defensive line for our communities.”

Palestinian Authority: The plan calls for a reform of the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank, and create conditions for a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.

Palestinian officials have met with Mr. Blair and U.S. officials, and have said they have begun reforms in key areas such as corruption, the education system and payments to families of prisoners convicted in attacks on Israelis.

Israel rejects the creation of a Palestinian State, opposes any role for the authority in postwar Gaza and may oppose attempts to bring it in even if some reforms are made. Without a pathway to statehood, any Palestinian support for the new system could crumble. The plan also offers no clear benchmarks or timelines for the reform process.

The sides appeared closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory and left dozens of hostages, living and dead, in Gaza

Israel’s Cabinet early on Friday (October 10, 2025) approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the remaining hostages held by Hamas, a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilised the Middle East.

A brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.

The broader ceasefire plan included many unanswered questions, such as whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appeared closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory and left dozens of hostages, living and dead, in Gaza.

The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led assault, and 251 were taken hostage. In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children.

In the hours leading up to the Israeli Cabinet’s vote, Israeli strikes continued. Explosions were seen on Thursday in northern Gaza, and a strike on a building in Gaza City killed at least two people and left more than 40 trapped under rubble, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.

At least 11 dead Palestinians and another 49 who were wounded arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military guidelines said Israel was hitting targets that posed a threat to its troops as they reposition. Hamas blasted Israel over the strike, saying Netanyahu was trying to “shuffle the cards and confuse” efforts by mediators to end the war in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official and lead negotiator made a speech Thursday laying out what he says are the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and withdrawing from Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails will also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Al-Hayya said the Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, and that Hamas and other Palestinian factions will now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.

“We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Al-Hayya said in a televised speech Thursday evening.

In other developments, US officials announced that they would send about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

Cautious celebrations

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, reactions to the announcement of a ceasefire were relatively muted and often colored by grief.

“I am happy and unhappy. We have lost a lot of people and lost loved ones, friends and family. We lost our homes,” said Mohammad Al-Farra. “Despite our happiness, we cannot help but think of what is to come. … The areas we are going back to, or intending to return to, are uninhabitable.”

In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped champagne and cried tears of joy after Trump announced the deal.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, Sharon Canot celebrated with some others.

“We are so excited this morning. We cried all morning,” she said. “It’s been two years that we are in horror.”

Under the terms, Hamas intends to release all living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not been fully made public. Some 20 of the 48 hostages still in captivity are believed to be alive.

In a short video posted by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump was seen speaking by phone to a group of elated hostage families.

“They are all coming back on Monday,” said Trump, who is expected to visit the region in the coming days.

Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, told reporters Thursday that officials have 170,000 metric tons of medicine, aid and other supplies at ready for transport into Gaza when they are given a green light.

How the deal will unfold

The deal, which was expected to be signed in Egypt, will include a list of prisoners to be released and maps for the first phase of an Israeli withdrawal to new positions in Gaza, according to two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks, a Hamas official and another official.

Israel will publish the list of the prisoners, and victims of their attacks will have 24 hours to lodge objections.

The withdrawal could start as soon as Thursday evening, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations. The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, the officials from Egypt and Hamas said, though the other official said they could occur as early as Sunday night.

Five border crossings would reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the Egyptian and Hamas officials said.

The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The US would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort.

The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years.

The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Mr. Netanyahu firmly rejects.

What comes next for Netanyahu

The days ahead could be politically tricky for Mr. Netanyahu, who has been shadowed by an ongoing corruption trial as he navigated the Gaza war.

His grip on power has been largely contingent on the support of hard-line, far-right coalition partners who have urged him to continue operations against Hamas until the group is eliminated.

But Mr. Trump on Thursday suggested Mr. Netanyahu’s political standing has been bolstered by the ceasefire and hostage deal.

“He’s much more popular today than he was five days ago,” Mr. Trump said. “I can tell you right now, people shouldn’t run against him. Five days ago, might not have been a bad idea.”