Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government has approved a plan to release all remaining hostages in Gaza. The move is part of President Trump’s peace plan and could bring an end to the two-year conflict in the region.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government has approved a plan to release all remaining hostages in Gaza. This move is part of a broader peace framework, which also includes ending the ongoing conflict in Gaza and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The agreement follows increased international pressure on Israel and diplomatic developments, including the recognition of Palestine by some of Israel's allies and a failed Israeli strike in Qatar. Challenges remain in implementing the deal, particularly regarding the logistics of hostage release, the delivery of aid, the extent of Israeli withdrawal, and the disarmament of Hamas.

Israeli government approves framework to release hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted on X that his government has approved a plan to release all the remaining hostages in Gaza. The release of hostages is one aspect of President Trump's peace plan. The agreement would end the war in Gaza that's lasted just over two years. It also calls for the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces. Will Todman joins us now. He's a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Middle East Program. So paint the picture for us, because this has been going on for years, as I just said. What changed in the past few months that might explain why Israel and Hamas finally agreed to this peace plan? Yeah, thanks for having me, Kelly. I think pressure has increased on both sides, and that's what forced this compromise and ultimately helped get across the line to make this deal happen. On the side of Israel, Israel has faced growing international pressure. We saw some of its key allies choose to recognize the state of Palestine at the U.N. last month. And then we also saw Israel overreach by striking Doha in Qatar. They tried to hit Hamas leaders who were part of the mediating team. That failed. And I think the blowback from that really enhanced its isolation and I think also changed President Trump's view. And he then decided to wield leverage in a way that other U.S. presidents haven't. And so I think he does deserve a lot of credit for helping get this across the line. And then on the Hamas side, I think several of its regional backers realized that this conflict could go on for a very long time. They don't want to see that. They sensed this moment of opportunity with President Trump taking a harder line with Israel, and then in tandem pushed Hamas to make compromises as well. Yeah, I mean, it is certainly a historic diplomatic achievement here. And I think you're right that that moment when they struck Qatar, it really did seem to be a turning point here. What are the challenges, though, moving forward to make this deal a reality? There are huge challenges. Even implementing the first phase of this deal is going to be difficult. That will be releasing the hostages, both those that are still alive and the bodies of those that have been killed. Getting the aid in is going to be difficult. And even agreeing on the line to which Israel withdraws or pulls back in Gaza. There are real differences between the view that Hamas has. They think Israel has agreed to a complete withdrawal from Gaza, whereas the Israeli government has said they won't do that and they want to maintain at very least a buffer area around the edge of Gaza. So that's a key challenge. I think the other really key challenge is going to be the disarmament of Hamas. There are very few details about how the mediators envision this process to go. Hamas doesn't appear to have fully agreed to it. And so it's not clear who is actually going to undertake that. That's very challenging work to do. I think Israel is going to be very keen to ensure that it is completed, but it's going to be very difficult to verify that that's actually the case. Yeah, a lot of challenges ahead, but at least a little hope on a day like today. Will Todman, thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

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