After weeks of intense diplomacy, Israeli and Palestinian officials announced an agreement on a framework for a ceasefire on Saturday. It’s a significant step forward, but it does not address the underlying issues that will determine the conflict’s outcome.
The agreement includes terms that would end fighting on land, air and at sea. It would also include rehabilitating Gaza’s devastated infrastructure and allowing access to the supplies needed to accommodate and shelter displaced families.
But most significantly, the deal would set up a process whereby Hamas would release 33 hostages in a phase that would last 42 days. The first batch would consist of women, the elderly and those categorized as severe humanitarian cases. It would also include the two very young children of the family of the Israeli Prime Minister. In exchange, Israel would free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including a number of prisoners sentenced to life in prison for murdering Israelis.
A number of observers have been skeptical about the timing of the agreement, noting that it was announced on a day when Israel’s Prime Minister would normally avoid meetings that are not urgent. However, it was a clear signal that the Israeli hard right wanted to begin its relations with the new administration with a success story on this issue.
The US is hoping that this can become the first step in a larger movement toward peace. But this will require Netanyahu to agree to a path toward a future Palestinian state and the Trump administration to press the Israeli government to do so.