Politics
What do we know about Trump’s Gaza deal?
Israel and Hamas have agreed on 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 bloody two-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East.
Here are some details of what is known and not known so far:
20-point framework
The agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework resulted from indirect talks in Egypt, just a day after the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas’s attack on Israel.
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.
Key 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 2007.
Trump’s original 20-point plan envisions a role for the Palestinian Authority but only after it has undergone major reforms.
What’s next?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.
A Hamas source said the living hostages would be handed over within 72 hours of the Israeli government approving the deal. Israel said the hostage release was expected to begin on Saturday. Of the 48 hostages, 20 are still thought to be alive.
A senior White House official said once Israel approves the deal it has to withdraw to the agreed line, which should take under 24 hours, after which the 72-hour clock would begin. The White House expects the hostages will begin getting released on Monday.
Hamas said earlier on Wednesday it had handed over its lists of the hostages it held and the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel that it wanted to be exchanged.
Trump is expected to travel to Egypt in the coming days as 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 that.
The next phase of Trump’s plan calls for an international body, called the “Board of Peace,” to play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration. It is to be led by Trump and include former British PM Tony Blair.
Risks
Successful completion of the deal would mark the biggest foreign policy achievement so far for Trump, who took office in January promising to quickly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, only to find that they were more difficult to resolve than he had hoped.
Hamas has so far refused to discuss Israel’s demand that the 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 dialled down its military campaign at Trump’s behest, but it has not halted strikes altogether.
Arab countries which back the plan say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu says 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.
- Venezuela’s Machado gave her Nobel medal to Trump.
- Donald Trump says he intends to keep the medal.
- Original laureate recorded in history as prize recipient.
OSLO: The Nobel Peace Prize remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation that won it, though the medal can be given away, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, a day after last year’s winner gave her medalto US President Donald Trump.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her medalon on Thursday to Trump, who thanked her for it. The White House released a photo of Trump and Machado, with Trump holding up a gold-coloured frame displaying it, and a White House official said Trump intends to keep it.
Machado’s award also consists of a diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.19 million).
“Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize,” the award body said in a statement.
“There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items,” it added.
‘Inseparably linked’
The medal and the diploma are physical symbols confirming that an individual or organisation has been awarded the prize, said the five-strong award committee.
“The prize itself – the honour and recognition – remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation designated as the laureate by the Norwegian Nobel Committee,” it said.
The committee, which did not refer to Trump and Machado by name in its statement, said it does not comment on a laureate’s statements, decisions or actions after the prize is announced.
It was not the first time a Nobel laureate has given away the medal. In 1943, Nobel literature laureate Knut Hamsun gave his to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
In 2022, Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov sold his medal for $100 million to raise money for the UN children’s fund Unicef to help Ukrainian refugee children.
In 2024, the widow of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan donated his 2001 Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma to the UN office in Geneva.
US President Donald Trump purchased about $100 million in municipal and corporate bonds from mid-November to late December, his latest disclosures showed, including up to $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery bonds just weeks after the companies announced their merger.
Financial disclosures posted on Thursday and Friday showed the majority of Trump’s purchases were municipal bonds from cities, local school districts, utilities and hospitals.
But he also bought bonds from companies including Boeing, Occidental Petroleum and General Motors.
The investments were the latest reported assets added to Trump’s expanding portfolio while he is in office.
It includes holdings in sectors that benefit from his policies, raising questions about conflicts of interest.
For example, Trump said in December that he would have a say in whether Netflix can proceed with its proposed $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, which faces a rival bid from Paramount Skydance.
Any deal to acquire Warner Bros will need regulatory approval.
A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions and neither Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested.
Like many wealthy individuals, Trump regularly buys bonds as part of his investment portfolio.
He previously disclosed at least $82 million in bond purchases from late August to early October.
US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim of having stopped a war between Pakistan and India, while also saying that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked him for saving at least 10 million lives.
He made the remarks at the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald J Trump Boulevard in Washington on Friday.
“In a year, we made eight peace deals and ended the conflict in Gaza. We have peace in the Middle East…We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, two nuclear nations…The Pakistani Prime Minister said Donald Trump saved at least 10 million people, and it was amazing,” he said.
The US president further recalled that the Pakistani prime minister’s remarks were an honour for him.
Trump cited his administration’s foreign policy record and repeated assertions of brokering peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May 10 last year, arguing that US pressure helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan.
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