The Guardian view on Gaza’s future: the ceasefire and hostage deal must not fizzle out | Editorial

R.The pain and damage caused by the past 16 months will resonate through families, societies and the Middle East for decades to come. On Thursday, the bodies of two young children and their mother, and a 83 -year -old peace activist, Repeat To Israel from Hamas. They were kidnapped in the raid of October 7, 2023, in which the militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and others. About 48,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war in response.

It was always afraid that the ceasefire deal, which brought a strong rest period to the Palestinians in Gaza and the return of Israeli and foreign hostages, was passing. The opening stage is scheduled for six weeks on March 1. The conversations on the second most complex stage did not start more than two weeks after its entitlement.

There are two types of hope. The first was the amazing confidence of the Middle East envoy in Donald Trump, Steve Witkev, in advertisement At the end of last week, “the second stage will start at all.” The second is that Hamas was beaten militarily and under pressure inside Gaza and from Arab governments, He said That in the next stage, all the remaining hostages will be likely to launch simultaneously, not in the intertwined groups. On the other hand, it wants a full and rapid military withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinians who keep Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu has According to what he said, he said That this stage be conditional on the removal of Hamas and the end of its presence in Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister does not want to cross Mr. Trump. However, it was not in his interest to reach the second stage, not the least of which was due to the threat that the extremist coalition member Bizalil Sotrish might take out. Security leaders have long believed that politics was the biggest obstacle in a deal. Now he has Reject From the negotiating team, replacing them with a well -continuous friend Ron DimerWho can try after surpassing the Master and Takouf and dealing with Mr. Trump directly.

At this late stage, the extension of the first stage will be better than nothing. The second stage agreement and implementation will be more difficult by nature, a major step forward. But the tremendous question in the third stage waves on the horizon: What is the form of rebuilding shape in Gaza? Mr. Trump’s hateful announcement that the Palestinians should give way to the “Riviera in the Middle East” owned by the United States- I embraced Written by Mr. Netanyahu – led to a discussion that was avoided for fear that it would go out of the deal, as well as because of its inherent complexity.

Ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians of countries requires ready to take it. Although Egypt and Jordan are highly dependent on American aid, their leaders cannot comply. Arab countries It will meet in Riyadh Friday while they were defending an alternative plan, discussing Cairo Hurry The proposal according to which the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and others would finance the reconstruction, with Hamas officially excluding the rule and supervising the work. Even if they can find a practical solution in theory, Mr. Trump will need to fill the agreement. Meanwhile, with the hostages continuing, with the circumstances in Gaza It remains very terribleThe priority should be to keep the ceasefire. Whether this can be the basis for a long -term response to this crisis, it is still necessary to save lives now.

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