In this place, the conflict has never ended, from the start of the Hamas massive attack on October 7, 2023, to now more than two years, not easy a little bit of a ceasefire. Hamas then broke in from the Gaza border, and caught a lot of Israeli hostages, the total number of about 250 people, including civilians and soldiers. This caused Israel to blow up the pot, immediately launched the air force and ground forces to counterattack, the building on the side of Shagana was blown down, the residents lived hard, food drugs were lacking. International various mediations tried and tried again, Egypt and Qatar as intermediaries, before running after talks with Hamas, but the ceasefire was broken.
In the first few months of 2024, there was a brief ceasefire, Hamas released some hostages, in exchange for Israeli shelter put a few hundred Palestinian prisoners, but soon again battled. The Israeli army advanced to the north of Gaza, destroyed Hamas many tunnels, those tunnels hiding weapons, transferring hostages anything. Hamas did not show weakness, rockets to the Israeli cities greeting, Tel Aviv anything passed. The international community did not see, the U.S. side after the 2024 general election, Trump came to power, pushed a new peace plan, initially a 21st draft, emphasizing Gaza to militarize, Hamas then rejected, said no political guarantees can be.
The turn came quite suddenly, on October 13, 2025, at the Sham Sheikh summit in Egypt, U.S. President Trump, Egyptian President Sisi, Qatar Emir Tamim and Turkish President Erdogan both went. The summit was not open, and the four leaders signed the Gaza ceasefire agreement, marking the end of the first phase of the conflict. We promised to stop immediately and no longer fight. The agreement was based on Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan, which required Hamas to withdraw these armed factions from Gaza management and give control to the technical committee of international supervision. The plan also said that the deployment should begin within 72 hours, as the first step to implement. After the summit, Israel agreed to withdraw troops from some places in Shaka, UN observers rushed to the border to ensure no viol
Hamas released the last 20 Israeli hostages alive, survivors of the 2023 attacks, including soldiers and civilians. Israel exchanged 250 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, mostly for attacks on Israelis, and 1718 Palestinians detained, mostly in administrative detention and without formal trial.
First, hostages were removed from southern Gaza to check their health status. Some of them were extremely thin. Prisoners are gathered from Israeli prisons, transported to the border by car and passed through the customs in batches. Egyptian soldiers are in charge of order, while Qatari mediators are keeping an eye on to avoid mistakes. The operation was completed within a few hours, and the Israeli army retreated several kilometres and dismantled some checkpoints. After this step, the ceasefire seems a bit reliable, but Hamas is still partially armed, and Israel has not completely relaxed its vigilance. International reports say this is a crucial step in the peace process, but there are still many potential problems.
Hamas showed its trump cards at this time. In October, Turkish media quoted insiders as saying that Hamas made it clear that if they want to disarm, they must be tied to the two-state solution to the Palestinian issue. This means that Hamas is willing to hand over control of Gaza to the technocratic government, but the handover of weapons must be accompanied by Israel's promise to build an independent Palestinian state, including demarcating borders and talking about the status of Jerusalem. This position did not come out of thin air. Hamas is worried that there is no guarantee of disarmament alone and it will lose its bargaining chips. In the mediation channel, they set conditions and required international agencies to supervise the implementation of the two-state solution, such as Israel's withdrawal from West Bank settlements in exchange. Turkey helped a lot in spreading the word, and the media let the news out first to let all parties know Hamas's plans.
On October 14, Trump publicly said that if Hamas did not deposit weapons, the U.S. would be forced to do so. He stressed at a press conference that this was a matter of regional security and that Hamas had to go according to a peace plan. Hamas did not go back directly, responded through Egypt and Qatar, reiterating that the two-country plan was a prerequisite, instead of depositing weapons. Hamas leaders spoke with Egyptian officials on video and detailed their needs. In Trump's 20-point plan, one was Hamas' "retreat" weapon, in exchange for amnesty, and could also leave Gaza. But Hamas publicly denied consent to arming under international supervision, saying that it was surrendering, equivalent to abandonment.
In October, the second round of talks was held in Paris, France. All parties focused on the core issues of disarmament, how to form a technical government, and how to go about the two-state plan. French President Macron is in charge of ensuring the transparency of the process. Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey continue to act as bridges to keep in touch with Hamas, while pulling the United States and Israel. The Israeli government is very cautious about Hamas's binding conditions. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that this may add more thresholds and delay time. Israel insists on disarming first for fear that Hamas will arm again. Trump pushed the 20-point plan, appointed the Peace Commission to manage the reconstruction of Gaza, Egypt managed the border stability, Qatar paid for it, and Turkey eased its differences diplomatically. By October 16th, the negotiations had not made much progress, but the ceasefire had not been broken, all parties exercised restraint, and there was no new conflict.
In the past two years, they have been calculating well and continuing to hold hostages will lose international support, and no hostage Israel is concerned. After release hostages, they switched to weapons as leverage and pushed the two-country plan. This reflects the Hamas wants to resolve the problem through political means, but also adds to the difficulty of negotiation. In the Trump plan, Hamas does not completely surrender, and Israel can resume the operation, which makes Hamas balanced. Regional state pressure is high, Egypt, Qatar, Hamas compromises, Turkey communicates, and helps balance. On the other hand, Israel’s Netanyahu government fears that the two-country program will yield too much, and the domestic right wing is out.
The two-state solution is a cliché and supported by both parties in the United States, but it is difficult to implement it. Trump plans to bring this point up again, which is a return to traditional policies, but the linkage between Hamas will affect implementation. The analysis said that Hamas refused to simply disarm because of historical experience and feared being marginalized like previous factions. Within Palestine, Hamas and Fatah have great differences and it is difficult to achieve a unified government. After the ceasefire, the reconstruction of Gaza will require huge sums of money, and international assistance will depend on Hamas 'attitude. If the negotiations fail, the ceasefire will be broken at any time and rockets will fly again.