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What Do We Know about Trump's Gaza Deal?

An Israeli military vehicle maneuver, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
An Israeli military vehicle maneuver, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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What Do We Know about Trump's Gaza Deal?

An Israeli military vehicle maneuver, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
An Israeli military vehicle maneuver, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could be a first step toward ending a two-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East, said Reuters.

Here are some details of what is known and not known so far:

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE DEAL?

The agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework resulted from indirect talks in Egypt, a day after the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered Israel's assault on Gaza.

Trump announced that both Israel and Hamas had signed off on the first phase of the plan and this would bring the release of all hostages, alive and dead, "very soon" and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the so-called yellow line in Gaza. According to a senior Israeli security source, that is a boundary for an initial Israeli pullback under the Trump plan.

Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, that includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a hostage-prisoner exchange, but the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN UNKNOWNS?

Despite the hopes raised for ending the war, crucial details are yet to be spelled out.

These include the timing, a post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of Hamas.

There is no clear indication who will rule Gaza when the war ends. Netanyahu, Trump, Western and Arab states have ruled out a role for Hamas, which has run Gaza since driving out Palestinian rivals in 2007.

Trump's original plan envisions a role for the Palestinian Authority but only after it has undergone major reforms.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.

A source familiar with the matter said doing so was largely procedural, given that Israel had already agreed to it. But some details still need to be worked out, so the timings could change, sources familiar with the talks said.

Hamas is to release the 20 living hostages together, 72 hours after the ceasefire begins, the sources said. An Israeli official said the hostages could be freed on Sunday or Monday.

Palestinian sources said the bodies of dead hostages would be released gradually as Israel's military withdraws. Gal Hirsch, Israel's hostage coordinator, said an international force would be established to help find any dead hostages whom Hamas cannot locate.

Israel is expected to release about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including over 200 who are serving life sentences, the Palestinian sources said.

Hamas said on Wednesday it had handed over its lists of the hostages being held and the Palestinian prisoners it wanted freed and exchanged.

The Israeli official said that once Israel approves the deal, it must withdraw to the agreed line within 24 hours, after which the 72-hour clock would begin. The White House expects the hostages will start being released on Monday.

Under Trump's plan, humanitarian aid entering Gaza is to increase. The Israeli official said 600 trucks per day would soon start entering Gaza. Two Palestinian sources said the number would be a minimum of 400 trucks a day and gradually increase.

Trump is expected to travel to Egypt in the coming days. The White House said he was considering going to the region on Friday. Netanyahu has invited Trump to address Israel's parliament, and Trump told Axios he would be willing to do so.

The next phase of Trump's plan calls for an international body - the "Board of Peace" - to play a role in Gaza's post-war administration. Under the plan, it would be led by Trump and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST RISKS TO THE DEAL?

Successful completion of the deal would be Trump's biggest foreign policy achievement to date.

Hamas has so far refused to discuss Israel's demand that the militant group give up its arms. A Palestinian source said Hamas would reject this as long as Israeli troops occupy Palestinian land.

Two sources familiar with the talks confirmed that sticking points included the mechanism for the Israeli withdrawal, with Hamas seeking a clear timeline linked to the release of hostages and guarantees of a complete pullout by Israeli forces.

Within Gaza, Israel has dialed down its military campaign at Trump's behest, but it has not halted strikes altogether.

Arab countries say the plan must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state. Netanyahu says this will never happen.

Hamas has said it would relinquish Gaza governance only to a Palestinian technocrat government supervised by the Palestinian Authority and backed by Arab and Muslim countries. It rejects any role for Blair or foreign rule of Gaza.

The list of Palestinians that Hamas wants freed was expected to include some of the most prominent prisoners ever jailed by Israel, whose release had been off limits in previous ceasefires.

According to a Palestinian source close to the talks, the list includes Marwan al-Barghouti, a leader of the Fatah movement, and Ahmed Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Both are serving multiple life sentences for involvement in attacks that killed Israelis.

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Palestinians Besieged in West Bank Village Fear Israeli Settlers will Seize Their Homes

CCTV footage shows, as witnesses say, Jewish settlers throwing rocks on the road in Qusra, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 12, 2026 in this screengrab taken from a handout video- REUTERS
CCTV footage shows, as witnesses say, Jewish settlers throwing rocks on the road in Qusra, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 12, 2026 in this screengrab taken from a handout video- REUTERS
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Palestinians Besieged in West Bank Village Fear Israeli Settlers will Seize Their Homes

CCTV footage shows, as witnesses say, Jewish settlers throwing rocks on the road in Qusra, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 12, 2026 in this screengrab taken from a handout video- REUTERS
CCTV footage shows, as witnesses say, Jewish settlers throwing rocks on the road in Qusra, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 12, 2026 in this screengrab taken from a handout video- REUTERS

From inside his home in the West Bank town of Qusra, Qusai Abu Rida watched on Friday as Israeli settlers moved from where they had erected a tent in front of his house to the valley below, rather than returning to the nearby outpost where they live.

Even as the army took positions around him and the homes of two other families that settlers had blockaded for most of this week, the settlers remained close enough that Abu Rida feared they would again return after the army left and try to take over the home owned by his Palestinian American brother in Ohio.

“I just don’t know when this will end,” he said.

The standoff in Qusra entered a new stage Friday as activists marched toward the besieged homes to try and replenish the families' food and water supply. But Abu Rida said he was growing tired of the pattern, with Israeli forces removing the settlers, only for them to return and reestablish their positions after the troops withdrew.

“It’s like a kids’ game, like cat and mouse,” Ziv Stahl, the executive director of the Israeli rights group Yesh Din, said. “It’s clearly not a matter of capability but a matter of will.”

The siege of the homes is the latest episode in a wave of settler violence convulsing the occupied West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state. Israel's military said the village — roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Palestinian city of Nablus — was a closed military zone.

They did not answer questions about the presence of the settlers. Both Israel’s military and Israel’s police both referred questions arrests in Qusra to the other.

The West Bank has become more dangerous for Palestinians as Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has approved more than 100 new settlements. Extremist settlers routinely enter Palestinian towns, clashing with villagers, burning homes, mosques and cars.

Netanyahu is courting blocs of ultranationalist voters ahead of what’s expected to be a difficult reelection campaign in October. He and members of his cabinet have largely dismissed concerns about settler violence as overblown and attributed it to fringe groups of a few hundred youths. Yet rights groups and Palestinians say the government's policies have made it more difficult to restrain settlers, who are rarely punished for attacks.

The standoff in Qusra began on Sunday when dozens of settlers arrived and blocked the doors to the three houses, preventing occupants from leaving, according to the families inside.

Israeli troops intervened multiple times and arrived in large numbers Thursday.

Abu Rida and his teenage son were temporarily moved by the army on Thursday but allowed to return hours later. He told his brother in Ohio that he planned on staying to defend the home.

For many, the scene unfolding in Qusra — now in its sixth day — reflected broader failures by Israeli authorities to curb the violence in the West Bank.

Itamar Weil, an Israeli human rights activist from the group Bnei Avraham, said the army had threatened to use tear gas against the activists and forced them to leave, even as settlers remained in the valley below Qusra.

“The army used to prevent settlers from carrying out this kind of violence,” he said. “Now, with a government that fully supports them, they’re not doing their job. They should be protecting both sides from violence, but instead they’re removing activists while barely doing anything about the settlers.”

Palestinian officials have reported 1,476 attacks by Israeli settlers in 2026, including several earlier instances in which settlers staged takeovers of Palestinian homes on the outskirts of other West Bank towns.

A total of 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry. Israel says some were involved in terrorism, which it defines broadly to include militancy and rock-throwing. Three Israelis were killed by Palestinians, including two in a July clash during which four Palestinians were also killed.

Katz strips army of enforcement power against settlers Before calm was restored in Qusra, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday that he would transfer all enforcement powers against Israeli civilians in the West Bank from the army to Israel’s police.

“The (Israeli military’s) role is to fight Palestinian terrorism, focus on protecting the borders and settlements against threats, deal with the borders and the territory itself and security threats to the settlements and the State of Israel, and not chase after boys on the hills,” Katz said in a statement.

Historically, the army has been able to arrest Palestinians and bring those accused of crimes before military courts. But when it comes to Israeli civilians, in most circumstances it can only use temporary detention for those suspected of crimes, leaving arrests, investigations and prosecutions to police and civilian courts.

Katz’s move comes after he ended the use of administrative detention against Israeli civilians in November 2024. The military had used the policy as a tool to contain settler violence, allowing it to detain suspects without charge and remove them from the West Bank.

Much like with that move, rights groups said transferring all powers to the police was unlikely to restore order or ensure Palestinian safety.

Some 2.8 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank alongside more than 560,000 Israeli civilians who live in settlements that the international community largely considers illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Though the Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy and policing power in the territory’s largest cities, agreements that date back to the 1990s give Israel security control over large swaths of the territory, including agricultural areas and communities such as Qusra.

Stahl, Yesh Din's executive director, said Katz's announcement wouldn't change or help stem the violence because police will still require army escorts to operate in Palestinian areas.

“Unless (Katz) means he’s going to apply Israeli law and have the police control the West Bank, the military is still the main body in charge,” she said.

Features

Why is North Korea Ramping Up Criticism of Japan?

News coverage showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch is seen on a screen at Seoul Station in Seoul on August 12, 2026. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
News coverage showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch is seen on a screen at Seoul Station in Seoul on August 12, 2026. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
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Why is North Korea Ramping Up Criticism of Japan?

News coverage showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch is seen on a screen at Seoul Station in Seoul on August 12, 2026. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
News coverage showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch is seen on a screen at Seoul Station in Seoul on August 12, 2026. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

North Korea has stepped up a campaign of rhetoric against Japan's military ‌buildup and its security ties with the United States and South Korea, saying they threaten regional stability. The criticism in more than a dozen state media attacks since early July has coincided with an unusual silence over the North's own missile launches, raising questions about Pyongyang's broader strategic messaging, according to Reuters.

WHY IS NORTH KOREA TALKING MORE ABOUT JAPAN?

North Korean statements have targeted Japan's acquisition of counter-strike capabilities, testing of a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile, rising defense spending and Tokyo's annual defense white paper.

Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, warned of "additional military options" in response to what she described as Japan's transformation into a military power. On Tuesday, a KCNA commentary described Japan's 2026 defense white paper as a "re-invasion-minded" document aimed at justifying military expansion.

The latest broadside came on Friday, when North Korea criticized annual US-South Korean Ulchi Freedom Shield military drills and accused US-Japan-South Korea military cooperation of evolving into a "nuclear alliance". Washington and Seoul say the drills are defensive.

Another KCNA commentary accused Washington of pursuing a strategy that lowers the threshold for nuclear weapons use and cited US extended deterrence commitments to South Korea and Japan.

HOW HAS ‌JAPAN CHANGED ITS ‌DEFENCE STANCE?

Japan in 2022 announced plans to double defense spending to 2% of GDP to ‌counter ⁠growing security threats ⁠from China, Russia and North Korea.

A major part of that expansion includes spending on long-range missiles such as the US-made Tomahawk, which can strike targets more than 1,000 km (621 miles) away. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected this year to revise Japan’s national security strategy, a move some analysts will likely lead to further increases in defense spending, including on drones and arms production.

IS THIS REALLY ABOUT JAPAN?

Analysts say Japan is only part of the story.

Park Won-gon, a professor at Seoul's Ewha Womans University, said the primary goal is to frame Northeast Asia as a contest between rival camps.

"The biggest objective is to create a US-South Korea-Japan versus North Korea-China-Russia framework," Park said.

He said Pyongyang wants stronger backing ⁠from Beijing and Moscow to cement its escape from diplomatic isolation and to bolster arguments that its ‌nuclear arsenal is necessary.

South Korea's Unification Ministry expressed a similar view on Thursday after ‌North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Jang Kum-chol criticized Seoul's plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and accused South Korea, the United States and Japan of ‌preparing a "second AUKUS" in Northeast Asia. The ministry said North Korea appears to view South Korea's submarine plans, Japan's evolving security posture ‌and trilateral military cooperation as threats to the regional balance of power, as it increasingly aligns itself with China and Russia. Kyungnam University professor of North Korean studies Lim Eul-chul said North Korea's messaging increasingly mirrors China's concerns about Japan's military expansion.

WHY IS NORTH KOREA STAYING SILENT ABOUT ITS MISSILE TESTS?

The heightened rhetoric has coincided with unusual silence on North Korea's recent missile launches, which were condemned by South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Despite conducting ‌ballistic missile tests last week and again this week, state media has yet to report either, departing from its usual pattern of publicizing tests within a day.

Analysts say the launches may ⁠have involved upgrades to existing missile ⁠systems rather than new weapons, reducing their propaganda value. Shin Jong-woo of the Korea Defense and Security Forum said the tests may have involved improved short-range ballistic missiles developed with Russian technical assistance and potentially destined for Russia.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Dongguk University, said North Korea may be avoiding publicity if launches are connected to prospective military exports.

WHAT DOES RUSSIA HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

North Korea's growing military cooperation with Russia has become a central factor in assessments of its weapons programs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly said Russia continues to use North Korean missiles against Ukraine and has accused Pyongyang of providing Moscow with missiles, ammunition and a further promise of troops for the war effort.

Analysts say battlefield feedback and Russian assistance may have helped North Korea improve the accuracy and performance of some missile systems.

Shin said recent launches could have been tests of upgraded variants before deployment or export.

WHAT IS NORTH KOREA TRYING TO ACHIEVE?

Analysts say North Korea is seeking to cast the region in terms of competing blocs, with Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow on one side and Washington, Seoul and Tokyo on the other.

Portraying US-South Korea-Japan cooperation as an increasingly threatening military and nuclear alliance helps Pyongyang justify its weapons programs, bolster Chinese and Russian backing and argue that its nuclear arsenal is a necessary response to a worsening security environment, they say.

Features

Mazen Al-Sudairi Brings Financial Expertise as Saudi Market Expands Globally

Mazen bin Turki Al-Sudairi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Mazen bin Turki Al-Sudairi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Mazen Al-Sudairi Brings Financial Expertise as Saudi Market Expands Globally

Mazen bin Turki Al-Sudairi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Mazen bin Turki Al-Sudairi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Mazen bin Turki Al-Sudairi will lead the board of Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority after a royal order appointed him chairman with the rank of minister, as the kingdom’s capital market rapidly expands, deepens its offerings, strengthens ties with global markets and seeks to attract more foreign investment.

Al-Sudairi brings a career rooted in financial markets and investment before moving into government and policymaking, combining technical expertise in market analysis with institutional experience inside government.

His appointment comes as Saudi Arabia’s capital market enters a new phase of growth focused on greater depth and openness, a broader investor base and a stronger presence in global markets, alongside the economic and investment transformation under Saudi Vision 2030.

The royal order appointed Al-Sudairi chairman of the Capital Market Authority’s board with the rank of minister, succeeding Mohammed El-Kuwaiz. He takes charge of the market regulator as the financial sector assumes an increasingly important role in financing economic growth and attracting domestic and international capital.

Since 2024, Al-Sudairi has served as an adviser at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers at an excellent grade, adding a government dimension to his background in finance and investment. The role broadened his experience from analyzing markets and investments to working in an environment closely connected to policymaking and decision-making.

He holds a master’s degree in finance from HEC Paris in France and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from King Saud University, an academic background combining financial knowledge with the analytical and quantitative training associated with engineering.

Al-Sudairi has extensive experience in financial services and capital markets. He served as head of research at Al Rajhi Capital, where he monitored company and sector performance and analyzed economic and financial developments and their impact on investor decisions.

He also headed sell-side research at Al-Istithmar Capital, adding experience in managing investment research and responding to market developments and investor needs during a period of rapid regulatory and investment change in the Saudi market.

Earlier, Al-Sudairi worked as an analyst covering the energy and petrochemicals sectors at Samba Capital, two of the most influential sectors in the Saudi economy and capital market. The role gave him direct experience analyzing companies and industries exposed to energy markets, global developments, commodity prices and economic cycles.

His career also took him outside Saudi Arabia, where he worked in equity research at Bank Degroof in Belgium. The experience added an international dimension to his background and gave him practical exposure to market and company analysis in a European financial environment.

Al-Sudairi is a recognized name in financial research and market analysis, having built experience across Saudi and international financial and investment institutions. His roles have been closely tied to assessing markets, analyzing companies and sectors, and evaluating investment opportunities.

His career spans financial and economic analysis, investment research and government work. After years of leading research functions at Saudi financial institutions and analyzing equities and sectors, his move into government added experience in institutional work and policymaking.

Al-Sudairi takes the helm of the Capital Market Authority’s board as the market becomes increasingly important as a channel for financing companies and projects, supporting private-sector growth, expanding savings and investment options, and connecting the Saudi economy more closely with global capital flows.