The silence came at noon local time no explosions, no drones, just the wind sweeping through rubble. After more than two years of relentless Armed Conflict, a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect Friday as Israeli troops withdrew to agreed lines. Yet even as families began moving north again, returning to neighborhoods reduced to dust and memory, the question hanging over every street corner was not whether the guns had fallen quiet but whether peace could take root in their absence. The first phase of former President Donald Trump’s 20-point truce plan is now in motion, but its long-term viability remains as fragile as the shattered windows lining Gaza’s ghost towns.
A 72-hour window has opened for Hamas to release the remaining 48 hostages 20 of whom Israeli officials believe are still alive. According to an Israeli source briefed on the matter, all living hostages will be handed over simultaneously, possibly as early as Monday. In return, Israel has committed to freeing 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and another 1,700 detained since October 7, 2023. Notably absent from the prisoner list, however, is Marwan Barghouti, the prominent political figure many see as a potential unifying leader. The White House confirmed it expects the first wave of releases imminently, underscoring the high stakes of this fragile exchange. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing to deploy up to 200 troops to support humanitarian aid flow and stabilization efforts a move signaling Washington’s deepening operational role in postwar Gaza.
Even as the truce officially began, plumes of smoke continued to rise from southern Gaza visible proof that trust remains thin and tensions simmer beneath the surface. The war, ignited by Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis and took around 250 hostages, has since claimed more than 67,000 Palestinian lives, over half of them women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Nearly every structure in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed, the United Nations reports, leaving a population of 2.3 million largely displaced and dependent on aid. In this landscape of loss, the ceasefire feels less like an ending and more like a breath held too long necessary, but precarious.
Trump’s proposal envisions a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” to govern Gaza temporarily, overseen by a “Board of Peace” co-led by Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This interim authority would hold power until the Palestinian Authority currently governing parts of the West Bank is deemed “reformed” enough to resume control. But a critical gap remains: while Hamas has agreed to the hostage-prisoner exchange, it has not committed to disarming, a cornerstone of Trump’s plan. Without that concession, the path to lasting stability remains blocked. Still, international support is coalescing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced €29 million in humanitarian aid and pledged Germany’s participation in Trump’s proposed peace council, signaling cautious optimism from key Western allies.
Egypt and Germany are set to co-host a major reconstruction conference for Gaza, aiming to mobilize global resources for what will be one of the largest rebuilding efforts in modern history. With most of Gaza’s infrastructure obliterated, the immediate needs are water, shelter, medical care, and electricity. U.S. troops are expected to assist in securing aid corridors, while humanitarian convoys begin navigating roads littered with debris and unexploded ordnance. For now, the focus is on survival but the people of Gaza are already thinking beyond it. In alleyways and makeshift camps, conversations turn not just to food and safety, but to schools, clinics, and the return of dignity. This Humanitarian Corridor may be narrow, but it’s the first real opening in years.
The ceasefire is real. The silence is real. But peace? That’s still a promise, not a fact. Trump plans to travel to Egypt for a formal signing ceremony and may address Israel’s Knesset a symbolic gesture that carries weight only if matched by action on the ground. The first phase of his plan sidesteps Gaza’s medium- and long-term future, leaving fundamental questions unanswered: Who will govern? Who will rebuild? Who will ensure this war doesn’t reignite in six months? For now, families sift through rubble with bare hands, searching for photos, toys, anything that survived. The world watches, hopeful but wary. Because in Gaza, hope has been buried before and it always, always claws its way back. Peace Begins Not With Signatures, But With Shared Breath In The Ruins.
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