Historic Day for the Middle East

Israel and Hamas Signed off on "First Phase" of Gaza Deal

October 8, 2025

I joined Anderson Cooper 360 with Brett McGurk to talk about this tremendous, historical day in the Middle East. I’m hopeful that we will see Israeli living hostages returned to their families by this weekend. I also hope that a return of most of the deceased hostages, a partial withdrawal of IDF troops, and the beginning of a massive influx of aid for the people of Gaza will follow.

President Trump deserves enormous credit for bringing this about. He did two things that fundamentally changed the dynamics. First, regarding Israel, he recognized the overwhelming Israeli public desire to end the war, that the endless, devastating war was unsustainable, horrific, and counterproductive for Israel (and, by extension, the U.S.), and that he needed to force Netanyahu’s hand and give him no option but to accept the peace plan. Second, President Trump worked with the momentum in Europe and among the Muslim countries in support of a Palestinian state to forge Muslim leadership support (and input in) his 20-point peace plan. This was a monumental change; Muslim leaders from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey gave Hamas no option but to accept this first phase of the plan (hostage/prisoner exchange).

At the risk of being “so F’ing negative!,” as Trump purportedly accused Netanyahu, I must point out that multiple, even harder phases lie ahead and will play out over many months and even years. NSA Rubio was explicit about that in his Sunday show interviews this weekend; his eyes are wide open. This is what diplomacy is about. You have to go step-by-step, but you need to start somewhere.

We should expect a lot of ups and downs. Hamas may not have many cards left, but they will play all they can; and let’s not forget that they are a terrorist group. The moment that the IDF pulls back and the aid starts flowing in, Hamas will fill the vacuum in the smoldering ruins of Gaza. Trump’s 20-point plan envisions disarming Hamas (with no clarity yet on who will implement or how), the formation of an International Security Force (TBD) that will keep peace and train a Palestinian force to replace them; some interim Palestinian technocratic government (TBD) overseen by a Board of Peace led by Trump; Palestinian Authority reform; etc, etc. If this all seems fantastical, I’m with you. But here we are, and let’s take this moment to celebrate. This is the best chance we have had to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace since this war began. Step one on that path has been taken. This Administration will have to continue to invest time, enormous energy, and determination to see it through. We should all support them in this worthy endeavor.

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