Politics
Does Gaza deal mean the two-year-old war is over?
US President Donald Trump says the deal agreed between Israel and Hamas marks the first steps toward a “strong, durable, and everlasting peace” that will end the two-year-old Gaza war.
Yet, the agreement signed after indirect talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a favoured location for Middle East peace conferences over the decades with a patchy record of success, is only an initial phase involving a ceasefire, a handover of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners inside Israel, and a partial withdrawal of Israel from the enclave.
Plenty of pitfalls remain after negotiators left for later discussions about some of the thornier issues on which previous initiatives have foundered, such as the full extent of an Israeli withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas, how to guarantee that war will not resume after this phase — and who could provide such a guarantee.
Have the guns fallen silent?
Not yet. Trump demanded Israel halt its bombing when Hamas first indicated partial acceptance of his 20-point plan on Friday. That has not happened. Scores of Palestinians have been killed since then in airstrikes and shelling, particularly in and around Gaza City, the focus of a recent Israeli offensive.
However, the bombardment has been more sporadic since Trump declared a deal had been secured on Wednesday, prompting celebrations in Israel, where families of hostages were jubilant in Tel Aviv’s hostages square, and in Gaza, where people gathered among the ruins even as blasts could be heard.
How does this differ from ceasefires that collapsed?
While this is a partial deal, a notable difference from previous ceasefire arrangements is that there is no deadline for reaching a full deal. It does not set a deadline of a few weeks, after which hostilities could resume if talks falter.
The jury is still out on whether that makes this deal more durable. There are those among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious nationalist coalition who are already talking of more war. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a staunch opponent of any concession to Palestinians, has called for Hamas to be destroyed after the captives are returned.
But on this occasion, Trump has been far more vocal in his determination to hold feet to the fire on both sides, leaving less room for Israel to relaunch its offensive or Hamas to delay, even if past experience counsels caution over too much optimism.
Trump announced his plan, standing next to Netanyahu in Washington last week, with what seemed a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer for Hamas.
Yet when Hamas gave only a partial acceptance, Trump immediately demanded Israel stop bombing. And as the days ticked by in the Sharm el-Sheikh talks, he warned Hamas, “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out” if it did not sign up.
By stamping his authority, Trump may have gone some way to answering the key question of who will guarantee this deal does not collapse at the next hurdle.
So what happens next?
The timeline is emerging but still seems fluid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the ceasefire would take effect once the agreement is ratified by his government, which would convene after a security cabinet meeting on Thursday.
An Israeli government spokeswoman said a ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of the cabinet meeting. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza will be freed within 72 hours, she said.
A source briefed on details of the agreement said earlier that Israeli troops would begin pulling back within 24 hours of the deal being signed.
Humanitarian aid to Palestinians should then start to flow. Calling for full access for humanitarian workers in Gaza, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations was ready to help and “prepared to move — now.”
Trump’s plan also calls for an international stabilisation force, which could start taking shape after a meeting of European ministers and top officials from Arab states in Paris on Thursday.
They were also due to discuss issues such as future governance of Gaza, aid, reconstruction and demilitarisation.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office said Trump was expected to be in Jerusalem on Sunday.
What are the political calculations facing Hamas and Israel?
Both Israel and Hamas have shown a readiness to respond positively to pressure from Trump and others, but each side faces its own political calculations.
For Netanyahu, agreeing to the plan seems based on a calculation that he can stay on the right side of the United States, Israel’s vital ally, and win over an Israeli public desperate to see an end to the war, while conceding as little as possible to avoid alienating his religious nationalist coalition partners.
The 20-point plan, for example, offers a possible pathway, albeit highly conditional, to a Palestinian state, although Netanyahu has said that it will never happen.
Hamas has dropped its opposition to any deal that was only partial because of the risk of war resuming once hostages were handed over. It has also signed up to a deal calling for demilitarisation, which it had repeatedly rejected.
Hamas may be calculating that Trump’s determination is the best guarantee that war will not resume for now, while the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh have put the resistance group at the negotiating table to shape the future for Palestinians, even though the deal seeks to sideline it.
- Khamenei terms wave of protests “American conspiracy”.
- Iran’s supreme leader says will not spare domestic criminals.
- DPM Dar expresses hope for peace and stability in region.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday accused US President Donald Trump of being responsible for “casualties” during a protest wave in the country.
“We hold the American president guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation,” he told a crowd of supporters during an address marking a religious holiday.
“This was an American conspiracy,” he said, adding that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran… the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination”.
He further said authorities “must break the back of the seditionists” after a crackdown on the protest wave.
“We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals… worse than domestic criminals, international criminals, we will not spare them either,” he added.
“By God’s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition.”
It is pertinent to mention here that more than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the country, culminating in mass violence late last week.
Tensions in Iran, however, subsided after three weeks of protests under an internet blackout. The capital Tehran, however, has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters.
Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held telephonic conversation with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today.
They discussed the current situation in Iran and the wider region.
DPM Dar expressed hope for peace and stability, and both sides agreed to continue bilateral consultations on matters of mutual interest.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump thanked Iran’s leaders for cancelling what he said were hundreds of planned executions of protesters after a crackdown.
Taking to his social media platform, he said the mass hangings had been called off and praised Tehran for the move.
US President Donald Trump, whose repeated threats to act had included a vow to “take very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he posted on social media.
- 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.
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