Gaza peace plan

• 1. Introduction

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  On the 8th of October 2025, during a live television appearance, United States president Donald Trump was handed a handwritten note by secretary of state Marco Rubio. The note said a deal was very close. It told Trump to approve a Truth Social post soon so that he could announce the agreement first. The Gaza peace plan, officially titled the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, was the deal behind that note. It is a multilateral agreement between Israel and Hamas, shaped by Trump in consultation with many Arab and Muslim countries. It aims to end the Gaza war and calm a wider crisis across the Middle East. This documentary asks how two earlier ceasefires fell apart and what the plan's twenty points actually demand. It asks why the two sides agreed when they did, who was left out of the room, and what happened once the guns went quiet. The hardest parts of the plan remain unfinished.

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• 2. Roots Of The War

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  Israel has occupied Gaza since 1967, together with the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The International Court of Justice has ruled that the occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal under international law. In 2005 Israel carried out a disengagement from the Gaza Strip, and control of the area passed to the Palestinian Authority. In January 2006 Hamas, a Palestinian nationalist Islamist political and militant group, won the majority of seats in the legislative election.

  Israel frequently blocked imports into Gaza during 2006. A separate blockade on exports cut off local industries such as textiles, furniture and greenhouse berry farming from foreign markets. The restrictions tightened after Hamas captured the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006.

  Hamas formed a government, first alone in early 2006 and then in a coalition with Fatah in March 2007. In June 2007 a battle ended with Hamas ousting the remaining Fatah officials and taking sole control of Gaza. In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, who belongs to Fatah, dismissed the government. By decree he formed a new one without Hamas, and Israel recognized it as representing the Authority. Israel and Egypt then imposed a blockade on Gaza, citing in part the thousands of rockets and mortar rounds Hamas had fired into Israeli territory.

  Fighting between Israel and Hamas flared in 2008-2009, 2012-2014 and 2021. Several earlier rounds were sparked when Israel either assassinated a Palestinian militant leader in Gaza or sent ground troops in.

  On the 7th of October 2023, Hamas infiltrated Israel from Gaza by several routes. The assault began with thousands of rockets. Massacres followed in border towns, in kibbutzim and at the Nova music festival. The attack killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, and militants took around 251 hostages and captives. Israel answered with a large-scale invasion and bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces. More than 68,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly civilians. A wide scholarly consensus has concluded that Israel's conduct in the war amounts to genocide in Gaza. Mediators soon tried to pause the fighting with temporary truces.

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• 3. Two Failed Truces

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  On the 24th of November 2023, Qatar, Egypt and the United States brokered the first ceasefire of the war. It was meant to last four days. In exchange, 50 Israeli hostages would go free along with 150 Palestinian prisoners, and more humanitarian aid would enter Gaza. The truce was extended twice because more hostages were released. It ended on the 1st of December, after each side accused the other of violations.

  A second ceasefire began on the 19th of January 2025, following an agreement reached on the 15th after months of talks. The same three mediators were involved. The deal had three stages. In the first, 33 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli troops pulled back from populated areas, aid flowed in, and displaced Palestinians returned home.

  The later stages were written into the text but left unsettled. Stage two called for the release of all living hostages, more prisoner releases and a complete Israeli withdrawal. Stage three included swapping the bodies of dead hostages for the bodies of dead Palestinians. Hamas wanted a guarantee that those stages would happen and that the first ceasefire would hold until then. Israel wanted only a promise that mediators would make every effort to continue talks. Under the Israeli wording, the ceasefire would expire automatically after six weeks if talks stalled.

  Israeli media reported that the final text followed the Israeli proposal, including the expiry mechanism. Pro-Israeli commenters later used that to argue Israel broke no promise when it resumed the war.

  Joe Biden's presidential term ended on the 20th of January 2025, and he left the unfinished agreement to Donald Trump. Both Trump and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu lead right-wing parties. Despite some disagreements between them, Trump was then seen as more likely to let Israel do as it pleased with Palestinian territory.

  When the first stage finished, Israel proposed extending it. Hamas refused and insisted on moving to the second stage as agreed. On the 18th of March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on Gaza that ended the truce. The United States and Israel blamed Hamas for refusing to free more hostages, while Hamas blamed Israel. By September, Trump would offer a different approach, a single plan with twenty points.

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• 4. The Twenty Points

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  At a White House press conference on the 29th of September 2025, Trump stood beside Netanyahu and announced the plan. He called the 20-point proposal "extremely fair" and said he was "hearing that Hamas wants to get this done". He promised that the United States would help guarantee Israel's security after a new ceasefire. He also affirmed Israel's right to act if Hamas said no.

  Trump revisited the 2005 withdrawal in his remarks. He quoted Israel as telling the Palestinians: "You take it. This is our contribution to peace. But that didn't work out." He said Netanyahu had clearly opposed a Palestinian state and had criticized countries that "foolishly" recognized one.

  The plan's first phase demanded an immediate end to hostilities, with military operations suspended and frontlines frozen. Every Israeli hostage, living or dead, was to come home within 72 hours. Israel would free 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 people arrested since the war began. For each hostage's remains returned, Israel would hand back the remains of 15 dead Gazans.

  The second phase is far more ambitious. Hamas's offensive weapons, tunnels and military infrastructure are to be destroyed so that Gaza becomes, in the plan's words, "a de-radicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors". Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence would get amnesty, and those who choose exile would get safe passage. A temporary international stabilization force of American, Arab and European personnel would oversee security and help train a Palestinian police force.

  Day-to-day government would pass to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by Palestinian technocrats. An international Board of Peace would support it and oversee rebuilding. The United Nations and the Red Crescent would distribute aid without interference. The plan also promises support for Palestinians who choose to stay in Gaza and rebuild.

  Statehood appears only as a conditional possibility. Recognition of Palestine depends on successful reconstruction and reforms within the Palestinian Authority. The plan calls a state "the aspiration of the Palestinian people" but never commits the United States to recognizing one. The State of Palestine took no part in the negotiations, though the Authority voiced support.

  Countries from France and Germany to Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia backed the plan. One obstacle was already known. Hamas had long said it would not disarm without an independent Palestinian state.

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• 5. Ultimatum And Talks

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  On the 30th of September, the proposal reached Hamas, and Trump said the group had "three or four days" to answer. Hamas said it was studying the text "in good faith". By the 2nd of October, reports said Hamas's political leaders in Qatar were open to a deal, provided they received international guarantees on Israeli withdrawal and on their own safety. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Hamas's leader inside Gaza, reportedly objected. An investigation by the New York Times found broad support for the plan among civilians in Gaza, many of whom urged Hamas to accept. Hamas also pressed for the release of Marwan Barghouti, and Israel refused.

  On the 3rd of October, Trump set a deadline of 18:00 Washington time on Sunday the 5th, which was 22:00 GMT. The next day he told CNN that if Hamas refused to give up control of Gaza, it would face "complete obliteration". Later on the 3rd, Hamas said it would free all hostages, living and dead. It also agreed to hand Gaza's administration to "a Palestinian body of independent technocrats". It did not agree to disarm or to give up influence in Gaza.

  Trump replied that Hamas seemed "ready for lasting peace" and told Israel to "immediately stop bombing Gaza". Israeli bombing continued until the 5th and killed 70 Palestinians. Israel said one of those strikes targeted a militant who threatened its forces. On the 4th, Netanyahu ordered the military to halt its offensive in Gaza City.

  Indirect talks opened on the 6th of October in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and American officials mediated. Ron Dermer led the Israeli delegation and Khalil Al-Hayya led Hamas's. The first session lasted about four hours and ended positively. Negotiators then agreed a five-point agenda covering the end of the war, prisoner and hostage exchanges, Israeli withdrawal, humanitarian aid and the post-war period.

  Trump posted that Israel and Hamas had both signed off on "the first Phase of our Peace Plan". The agreement was signed in Egypt at noon local time on the 9th of October. Hamas would free 20 living hostages in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

  The Israeli cabinet approved the deal in the early hours of the 10th. Israeli forces pulled back to an agreed boundary known as the Yellow Line, finishing at noon, when the ceasefire formally took effect. The United States set up a joint control centre under Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command. On the 12th, Trump declared that "The war is over".

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• 6. Motives And Reactions

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  On the 8th of October, in a Fox News interview, Trump pointed to a "set of circumstances" that made the deal possible. One was the Israeli and American strikes in Iran aimed at destroying its nuclear program. Another, reportedly the immediate trigger, was Israel's attack on Doha. It violated Qatar's territorial integrity in a failed attempt to kill Hamas negotiators, and it reportedly pushed Trump to force an end to the war.

  Other pressures stacked up. Arab countries with close commercial and diplomatic ties to Trump backed the plan. More European countries promised to recognize Palestine, and global opinion was turning against Israel's conduct. Trump also felt freer to press Israel because of domestic political differences, and Israel had achieved all its major military goals in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.

  Several commenters linked the timing to Trump's wish for a Nobel Peace Prize. The 2025 prize, announced on the 10th of October, went instead to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. She said Trump "absolutely" deserved a prize of his own. Political scientist Scott Lucas called Trump "desperate" for the honor because Barack Obama won in 2009. Nina Graeger of the Peace Research Institute Oslo said it was "too early" to judge whether Trump's role would lead to lasting peace.

  A Wall Street Journal analysis argued that Hamas yielded under pressure from Turkey, Egypt and Qatar. It also pointed to fear across the Arab world after Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Iran and Qatar, and to Gazans suffering hunger and destruction.

  Israeli reactions split. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called the plan "a historic missed opportunity". Opposition leader Yair Lapid endorsed it. The Palestinian Authority called Trump's efforts "sincere and determined" and promised elections within a year of the war's end. Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah called the plan an attempt to win through the United States what Israel could not win by war.

  Historian Rashid Khalidi argued on the 13th of October that this was no genuine peace process, since it offered no "completely equal rights" for both peoples. The Guardian wrote that the plan gave Palestinians no "meaningful agency". Argentina's president Javier Milei, meanwhile, said Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

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• 7. Homecomings

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  At 8 a.m. on the 13th of October 2025 in Gaza City, Hamas handed seven living hostages to the Red Cross, who passed them to Israeli troops. Around 11 a.m. in the south, 13 more followed. Israeli officials said the 20 were aged 22-48 and included a pair of twin brothers and several soldiers. Some spoke to their families by video call shortly before release. Doctors at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer found malnutrition, lost muscle and fat, shrapnel injuries and burns. Some patients also suffered complications from being fed heavily just before release after months of starvation.

  That day Hamas also returned four caskets, though it had agreed to release the remains of all 28 dead hostages. Israel accused it of breaking the deal. Hamas said many burial sites were unknown, bodies lay under rubble and it had no DNA kits. On the 15th, Israeli officials said one returned body was not a hostage's. By the 25th, only 15 had been returned, and Trump warned Hamas it would be held responsible if the ceasefire collapsed.

  The returns continued slowly. On the 2nd of November the remains of Asaf Hamami and Omer Neutra came home. Itay Chen, a soldier killed in his tank near Nahal Oz, followed on the 4th and was the last slain American-citizen hostage in Gaza. On the 5th came Joshua Loitu Mollel, a 21-year-old Tanzanian agricultural intern taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. On the 9th, Hadar Goldin returned after more than 11 years. He was killed in the 2014 Gaza war during a humanitarian cease-fire. On the 26th of January 2026, the IDF announced it had recovered the body of the last hostage in Gaza.

  On the Palestinian side, Israel freed 1,718 Gaza detainees arrested during the war, about 1,700 of whom were held without charge. Before the release, HaMoked counted 11,056 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, about 3,500 in administrative detention without trial. Of the 250 life-term prisoners, 154 were expelled to Egypt. Some freed prisoners were seen with signs of recent beatings.

  Israel also returned Palestinian bodies, 45 on the 15th of October and 150 by the 20th. Doctors in Khan Yunis said examinations indicated torture and summary executions. The IDF denied torture, and these claims could not be independently verified.

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• 8. Ceasefire Under Strain

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  On the 21st of October 2025, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began publishing daily reports on recovery in Gaza. By the 18th of November, an average of 800 aid trucks entered daily. The agreement called for 600 a day, yet Israel allowed an average of only 145 between the 10th of October and the 2nd of November. A Civil-Military Coordination Center under Admiral Brad Cooper, with US diplomat Steven Fagin as civilian lead, helped manage the flow.

  Violence continued in both directions. On the 19th of October, Israel said Hamas fire killed two soldiers in Rafah. Hamas denied it, and reports suggested an Israeli bulldozer hit unexploded ordnance. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 45 people that day. On the 28th, the IDF said a soldier died in Rafah, and Israeli strikes killed at least 104 people. The same day, the IDF released video it said showed militants staging the recovery of a hostage's remains, and the Red Cross called a fake recovery unacceptable. Hamas denied involvement in attacks on troops.

  Gaza's Government Media Office counted 342 Palestinians killed in the first 44 days. By mid-January 2026, Israeli attacks had killed at least 442 and injured 1,240. Israel said many victims crossed the Yellow Line or posed an immediate threat.

  On the 17th of November, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2803, which mandated a Stabilization Force for two years under a Board of Peace. Special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the second phase on the 14th of January 2026, along with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. On the 22nd of January at Davos, Trump ratified the Board's charter as chairman, joined by leaders of 18 founding nations. Jared Kushner presented a blueprint with high-rise towers and an airport. Norway, Sweden and France declined invitations, while Hungary accepted. Netanyahu agreed to join after objecting at first. The Rafah crossing reopened on the 2nd of February.

  Disarmament proved the sticking point. In March 2026 the Board presented Hamas with a disarmament plan. Hamas called it unacceptable and said it would not discuss the second phase until Israel fully carried out the first. Israel said it would not move forward without progress on disarmament. An Israeli security source told KAN News that the IDF would restart the fighting if Hamas kept its weapons. On the 28th of May 2026, Netanyahu ordered forces to take control of more of Gaza's territory, starting by seizing 70 percent.

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