What We Know About the Israel-Hamas Deal

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00:00You wouldn't have even thought of it. They came together. The world has come together around this deal.

00:06You know, having the ability to deal with trade, having the ability to use tariffs to help me make a point,

00:14the tariffs have brought peace to the world.

00:23That was President Trump there speaking to Fox News about the latest Israel-Hamas peace plan

00:28and he earlier touted the deal on his true social account, saying all hostages will be released very soon

00:33and Israel will withdraw its troops to an agreed-upon line.

00:37Joining us now is Mona Yacoubian, Director and Senior Advisor of the Middle East Program at CSIS.

00:43And Mona, thanks very much for making the time for us.

00:45I do want to start with the overall scope of the deal and also to get your insights into how significant of a breakthrough this is.

00:53I mean, it's an extraordinary breakthrough.

00:57Given two years of devastating conflict, trauma in both societies, widespread destruction in Gaza and humanitarian suffering,

01:08the deal promises an end to the war, a release of all the hostages, prisoner releases,

01:15the flowing in in large scale of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

01:21This is a moment that the region and really, I'd say, the world has been waiting for.

01:29Mona, David here.

01:31So this is this is phase one.

01:34What do you think should be in phase two?

01:38Well, there are elements that are prescribed for phase two.

01:43I think what's key and this is where there there could well be snags is the disarming of Hamas.

01:51The plan calls for the demilitarization of Gaza, the destruction of all the military terror infrastructure.

01:59So the tunnels, et cetera.

02:01That's going to be an extraordinary lift.

02:04No clear indicators of how that is actually to be done.

02:07It also calls for phased withdrawal.

02:10So the first withdrawal is the one that's initiated in this first phase to an agreed upon line.

02:16But then there are subsequent withdrawals and how and when those withdrawals take place is open to question.

02:23And then, of course, the plan, as it's envisioned, appears to have a buffer zone within Gaza in which Israelis would main a troop presence.

02:33That appears to be counter to how Hamas is describing it, which is that it would be Israel's complete withdrawal from the territory.

02:43So big questions remain there on disarming versus withdrawal.

02:48And also, are we indeed seeing the final and permanent end to this conflict?

02:53Or are there openings for the conflict to resume as differences begin to emerge as to whether or not Hamas is being disarmed and so forth?

03:03Anyway, there are many factors.