Dawn
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16:21 Oct 09, 2025
United States 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 conflict. 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 captives 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 fighting 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 part...