With a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip apparently in effect and large numbers of Palestinians moving north as the Israeli army retreated Friday, significant questions lingered over what was next for President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for peace.
Trump has said that he plans to travel to Egypt for an official signing ceremony for the ceasefire agreement and that he has also been invited to address the Israeli parliament, or Knesset.
Here's what we know, and don't know, about what comes next.
Trump’s proposed plan
Key components of Trump's proposal include:
- The release of all living and dead hostages in Gaza within 72 hours of Israel accepting the agreement.
- Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life-sentence prisoners, plus 1,700 Palestinians detained after Oct. 7, 2023.
- A requirement for Hamas to lay down its arms, and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.
- The delivery of humanitarian aid and the installation of a civilian governing authority for Palestinians.
Now what?
A ceasefire in Gaza came into effect Friday at 12 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) and troops have pulled back to agreed lines, the Israeli military said, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved the first phase of the deal intended to bring the war to an end.
A 72-hour window is now open in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages. The White House has said it expected hostages to be released Monday. Forty-eight hostages remain to be returned, of whom Israel says it believes 20 are alive.
An Israeli official briefed on the matter told NBC News that all living hostages would be released at one time.
In exchange, Israel is to release 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Palestinians detained after Oct. 7, 2023. A final list of prisoners has not yet been made public, but an Israeli government spokeswoman said Thursday it would not include the prominent Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti, seen by many as a potential unifying figure.
The U.S. military is preparing to deploy up to 200 troops to Israel to support stabilization in Gaza and the flow of humanitarian aid and security assistance into the enclave, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the planning.
The agreement comes just more than two years to the day after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people and around 250 kidnapped. Since then, Israel has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Gaza's future?
The first phase of Trump’s plan does not address Gaza’s medium- and long-term future. With most of Gaza’s buildings damaged or destroyed in Israel’s offensive, according to the United Nations, and its population largely forced from their homes, what comes next is an urgent question.
Trump’s plan says the enclave should be temporarily governed by a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” overseen by a “Board of Peace” led by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
That is until the Palestinian Authority, which controls part of the occupied West Bank and is the Palestinians’ main representative internationally, can be “reformed,” according to the plan.
Meanwhile, Hamas has agreed to participate in the hostage and prisoner exchange but has not said it will disarm and disband — a key stipulation of Trump’s proposal.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that Germany will make 29 million euros ($25 million) available for humanitarian assistance and plans to co-host, along with Egypt, a reconstruction conference for Gaza. He said Germany was also "prepared to assume responsibility in the Council of Peace proposed by President Trump."
