United States President Donald Trump has formally announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan for the war in Gaza.
According to President Trump, the plan entails the release of all hostages and Israeli Defence Forces will be withdrawn from Gaza to “an agreed-upon line”.
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Media outlets are reporting that the hostage release may happen as early as Saturday of this week.
Alistair Bunkall, Sky News' Foreign Correspondent, joined Newstalk Breakfast to discuss what he understands to be the first phase of the peace plan. He spoke of the momentum that was building that led to this deal.
“What happened is, I think, Donald Trump lost patience with the process. There’s been repeated attempts to try and get a deal but I do think a turning point was Israel’s failed strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar a few weeks ago.
“I think that really angered the region, it was a step too far for Benjamin Netanyahu and I think the Americans saw that as a window to galvanise support and push Netanyahu to a deal."
First phase of peace?
Mr Bunkall explained the mechanics of the deal, stressing that it is only the first phase that is in play.
“We know that it will involve the release of the remaining 48 hostages, of which 20 are believed to still be alive. It will also involve the release of Palestinian prisoners, in excess of 1,000 and we understand that the IDF will pull back."
Mr Bunkall explains the actions that will follow for the first phase of the deal to be implemented.
“Firstly, the ceasefire will be signed off if and when the Israeli cabinet sign off on this.
“That ceasefire period will give space for Hamas to locate the hostages. The dead can be hard to locate, they can be buried deep underground.
“The Americans are bringing forward this idea of an international interim administration that will be chaired by Donald Trump himself.
"We also have the involvement of Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister."
Despite this, Mr Bunkall says questions remain over who will govern and reconstruct Gaza and the powers of the Palestinian authority.
“What assurances has Hamas been given to persuade them to do this deal? [Once] they release the remaining hostages, that's it - their leverage is over.
“It's quite the win for Trump if it sticks. He needs to use all the power that he has as the US president to make this happen” he says.
'Netanyahu's position is tenuous'
Sean Bell, former fighter pilot, military analyst and co-host of the RedMatrix podcast also joined Newstalk Breakfast to give his take on the matter.
“We have to be careful about expectations here, I’d be very wary about saying peace has broken out.
“Hamas has always wanted a route to a two state solution. They won’t release all of the hostages until they’re very confident that they have their part of the deal settled too."
Mr Bell says that there are conflicting views within the cabinet but that Netanyahu is under severe pressure to enact the ceasefire.
“You can imagine how fragile this all is. Netanyahu’s position as soon as all this is over is quite tenuous.
"Likewise, there are hardliners in his cabinet who will not want to agree on this. But with the pressure being brought to bear by Trump, it is likely their hand is being forced.
He also questioned Hamas’ stance if the war ends: “Is it their belief system that they will continue fighting if they believe there isn’t a route to an independent Palestinian state?”
“There isn’t a military solution, it has to be a political one. There needs to be a way for both of these sides to peacefully co-exist."
