Entertainment
Major win for Trump on Gaza, but will it stand test of time?
US President Donald Trump has undeniably scored a diplomatic victory by helping to broker a truce for Gaza, but the path to the lasting peace he says he wants for the Middle East is littered with obstacles.
And it remains to be seen whether the 79-year-old Trump — who is not exactly known for his attention to the fine print — will devote the same level of energy to the conflict over the long term, once his victory lap in the region is over next week.
“Any agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, but especially one indirectly brokered between Israel and Hamas is an extraordinary achievement,” Aaron David Miller, who worked for multiple US administrations of both parties, told AFP.
“Trump decided to do something that no American president… of either party has ever done, which is to pressure and squeeze an Israeli prime minister on an issue that that prime minister considered vital to his politics,” said Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
But Miller, who has participated in Middle East peace talks over the years, warned of the “universe of complexity and detail” that remains to be hashed out with respect to the implementation of phase two of the deal.
The Israeli army said its troops had ceased fire at 0900 GMT Friday in the Gaza Strip, in anticipation of the release of all Israeli hostages, dead and alive, in the subsequent 72 hours, in compliance with the deal it reached with Palestinian armed group Hamas.
Trump has said he expects to head to the Middle East on Sunday, with stops in Egypt, where the talks took place, and Israel.
Art of the deal?
Given that every US president over the past 20 years has been unsuccessful in resolving crises between Israel and the Palestinians, Trump’s accomplishment is already remarkable.
But the Republican billionaire president has broader aspirations — to revive the Abraham Accords reached during his first White House term, under which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco offered Israel diplomatic recognition.
Trump has brought his son-in-law Jared Kushner, one of the architects of those accords, back into the administration to work with special envoy Steve Witkoff on the Gaza negotiations.
Officials and foreign policy observers agree that Trump deftly used a mix of carrot and stick — publicly and privately, and especially with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — to get the deal done.
He also leveraged his strong ties with Arab and Muslim leaders including Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
For Miller, Trump clearly played a “decisive” role.
But while the agreement’s first phase appears to be on track, much remains undefined, including how — and if — Hamas will agree to disarm after two years of devastating conflict in the Palestinian territory, following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“A ceasefire is not yet a lasting peace,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday, after meeting with European and Arab ministers on how to help the Palestinians in the post-conflict period.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote: “Whether this leads to an end to the war remains an open question.”
Huge challenges
Cook says the challenge now is to fully implement Trump’s 20-point plan, which calls for Hamas to surrender its weapons, the creation of an international stabilisation force and new governing structures for Gaza that will not include the Palestinian resistance group.
Trump insisted Thursday that “there will be disarming” by Hamas and “pullbacks” by Israeli forces.
Then on Friday, he added: “I think there is consensus on most of it, and some of the details, like anything else, will be worked out.”
But his administration will need to work hard to finalise the deal, and ensure that Arab countries in the region are invested in helping rebuild a devastated Gaza.
A team of 200 US military personnel will “oversee” the Gaza truce, senior US officials said Thursday.
Miller said there are “operational” holes in the plan as it stands, including “no detailed planning for either how to decommission and/or demilitarise Gaza, even if you had Hamas’s assent, which you don’t.”
The plan also calls for the creation of a so-called “Board of Peace,” a transitional body to be chaired by Trump himself — a proposal Hamas rejected on Thursday.
“Despite coming to office eager to shed America’s Middle East commitments, Trump just took on a huge one: responsibility for a peace plan that will forever bear his name,” wrote Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Zara Tindall and husband Mike Tindall were once again the picture of joy this weekend as they continued their annual Australian tradition at the Magic Millions Carnival on the Gold Coast.
The couple have called this trip their “second home” and a highlight of their calendar for over a decade.
The daughter of Princess Anne and her former England rugby star husband were all smiles as they mingled with fans and fellow equestrian ambassadors during the Carnival’s marquee race day.
They were seen walking hand in hand, laughing during interviews and delighting the crowd with their easygoing chemistry.
More than just spectators, the Tindalls are long‑standing ambassadors for the Magic Millions Racing Women initiative since 2012 and this year’s festivities put them firmly in the thick of the action.
Alongside close friends and fellow ambassadors like Argentine polo star Nacho Figueras and his wife Delfina Blaquier, Zara has been taking part in various events, from barrier draws to showjumping and polo festivities.
Fans down under have also caught glimpses of the couple enjoying life off the formal track, leisurely beach strolls at Cabarita Beach, cocktails, sunsets and even low‑key nights out that Mike cheekily shared on social media, giving a peek into the fun side of their Australian sojourn.
Kanye West, who has officially changed his name to Ye, and Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West’s latest moves suggest she’s gravitating more toward her father’s controversial style than her mother’s influence.
From eyebrow raising fashion choices to a public reunion with Kanye’s wife Bianca Censori, fans are wondering if the Kardashians star is slowly losing her first born to ex husband?
Such speculations gained traction after the 12-year-old dropped a snippet of her new collaboration song with her dad, titled Piercing on My Hand (Ye Version).
In the wee hours of Friday morning, January 16, she shared a video on her Instagram Stories, featuring herself, singing, “Piercing on my hand, the other holding bands. No friends, just filter, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Went to school for two days, then I got banned/ Skipping school, yeah, I do it on the daily,” she continues across a beat heavily influenced by the rage rap that frequently soundtracks her social media posts.
X (formerly Twitter) users picked up on the lyrics and began tagging Kim with messages of apology.
While some mocked her parenting with sarcasm, others genuinely sympathised with the mother, who tries to protect her child from following in her father’s controversial footsteps.
“Got some new rings, yeah, they’re so crazy,” North continues to rap. “All my friends are hits, you know I’m not lazy/ You’re so angry that I’m so mainstream.”
she sneers near the end of the snippet, adding, “I’m not sure I’m crazy/ I want more piercings and tats/ I love blue hair, put it in some plaits/ Put the music to the max/ I want like a hundred thousand racks.”
The pre-teen captioned the post, writing, “Piercing on my hand @ye version.”
Although North’s fans seemed to love her music influence and the teaser, the collaboration with her 24-time Grammy-winning dad is just another reason which proved she is more like her dad than her famous mother.
This preview follows a string of daring fashion statements from North in early 2026, including a temporary bridge piercing, black dental grills, and a diamond skull pendant, accessories more closely associated with her father’s unconventional style than her mother’s polished aesthetic.
While her fashion choices made waves, she grabbed further attention given to her growing comfort in sharing personal moments online.
On December 26, 2025, North posted a screenshot from a FaceTime call with Bianca Censori, her step mom and singer BabyXsosa.
The viral image, originally shared by BabyXsosa, marked one of the first times North publicly featured her stepmother on her own social media, signaling her increasingly visible bond with Kanye’s inner circle.
Together, the music, fashion, and social media activity suggest North is exploring her identity in ways that feel more aligned with her father’s influence, prompting thoughts like may be she is drifting away from her mother.
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