Gaza ceasefire deal signed by mediators after hostages freed
Jon Shelton | Felix Tamsut | Timothy Jones | John Silk | Kieran Burke with dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP
Published 10/13/2025Published October 13, 2025last updated 16 hours agolast updated 16 hours agoUS President Donald Trump has signed a Gaza ceasefire document, alongside key mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. The ceremony in Egypt followed the release of all living Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace tells DW that hopes that US President Donald Trump's plan would bring peace to the Middle East are premature.
"I think this is just one ... very important first step," the Middle East and US foreign policy analyst says, adding that many of the details still need to be "hammered out."
According to Yerkes, the fact that neither Israel nor Hamas joined the summit is an issue.
"There's so many details, including whether or not Hamas will agree to disarm, which is one of the crucial pieces of this that have yet to be decided," she said.
Yerkes added that she believed that Netanyahu would go ahead with plans to annex "large portions" of the occupied West Bank.
"For Netanyahu, what he cares about is the West Bank anyway."
She said Netanyahu was "making it look like he's a peacemaker when in reality he's moving forward with everything he's been doing in the West Bank for years."
As for Gaza's reconstruction, the Middle East analyst is hopeful the enclave will return to being a place where Palestinians could thrive.
"I am optimistic that in the long run, Gaza will return to being a habitable place."
DW
It looks like the guarantors signed the agreement while Israel and Hamas abstained. Israel could still end up with nearly 55% of the Gaza Strip that they currently occupy if not more. |
