‘This Is Definitely a Morning for Celebration’: Mediators Seal Gaza Ceasefire Framework
The Sharm el-Sheikh agreement launches a staged process for aid flows, hostage-prisoner exchanges, and an Israeli pullback while enforcement and governance details are still being negotiated
On October 9, 2025, Israeli and Hamas representatives signed an agreement in Sharm el-Sheikh, mediated by Egypt, to end the war in Gaza after more than 22 months of fighting. The deal calls for an immediate ceasefire, exchanges of hostages and prisoners, the opening of humanitarian corridors including the Rafah crossing, and an Israeli pullback from civilian areas.
International observers from Qatar, Turkey, and the US attended the signing. The agreement aims to halt hostilities permanently, with enforcement and longer-term governance still under negotiation.
Reactions from analysts and veteran negotiators point to both opportunity and risk. Interviews with Samer Raghib, Gershon Baskin, and Sabri Saidam describe the diplomatic grind behind the breakthrough, the missed openings along the way, and the political work still to come.
An unprecedented diplomatic move
Speaking with The Media Line, Raghib, director of the Arab Foundation for Development and Strategic Studies, credited months of Egyptian mediation that intensified during peak escalation. He called the outcome “an unprecedented diplomatic move,” saying Cairo used its ties with all parties to shepherd a consensus text through a marathon night of talks.
Raghib said the initial phase prioritizes urgent relief over politics: both sides commit to an immediate ceasefire; Rafah and other crossings open for aid; forces withdraw from dense civilian areas; and consultations begin to prevent renewed violence as monitors take stock. Those steps, he argued, align with Egypt’s early objectives—protecting civilians, averting regional spillover, preventing forced displacement and reoccupation, and reinforcing Egypt’s broker role on Palestinian issues.
Public sentiment in Egypt is cautiously positive, he added. Many see a chance to pivot from war to politics, though there is concern the truce could fail without strong guarantees. Raghib said that Cairo intends to keep pressing to move from ceasefire mechanics into broader talks on final-status questions.
This is definitely a morning for celebration
Baskin, a former Israeli hostage negotiator with extensive back-channel experience, praised US leadership under President Donald Trump for the final push. “This is definitely a morning for celebration,” he told The Media Line, predicting “the killing and destruction will stop” and “the Israeli hostages will be coming home—the living and the deceased.”
He said President Trump, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner worked in tandem with Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish counterparts to align pressure on both Jerusalem and Gaza. “This was a brilliant move,” Baskin said, adding that the coordination “locked Netanyahu into the agreement” and brought Hamas into line through regional guarantors.
Looking back, Baskin argued that a similar proposal—known as the “Three Weeks Deal”—was available in September 2024. He said Hamas signaled acceptance then, but the talks stalled when Israel would not commit to ending the war and the US pursued a different track. Afterward, he focused on informal channels with American, Qatari, and Egyptian officials and built a discreet line to the American president’s team, he said.
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Momentum faltered again last month after an Israeli strike in Doha targeting a Hamas leader’s residence. Baskin said intermediaries received assurances from Witkoff that Washington was not involved and that apologies had been conveyed to defuse the rift. In his account, a message on September 10 helped restore trust, and by September 19, Witkoff called to say, “we have a plan,” asking Baskin to convince Hamas that President Trump intended to close the war.
Implementation will be the test. Baskin said the text is a declaration that the war is ending, not a temporary pause, and that guarantees are tied to the full release of hostages. He outlined discussions about Hamas turning in weapons to a new Palestinian security force—potentially with Egyptian support—and insisted Gaza’s next governing authority must be Palestinian-led, not a “neo-colonial mechanism which the Palestinians do not control.”
He also noted that US officials weighed arguments about high-profile prisoner releases, including the potential role of Marwan Barghouti in a renewed political process. That question, he indicated, remains part of the sequencing still to be finalized.
Baskin called the signing’s choreography historically notable. At 2 a.m., he said, Israeli and Hamas delegations sat in the same room in an official setting for the first time. “The deal was signed and now we have to wait for its full implementation,” he said.
From the Palestinian political side, Saidam, deputy secretary-general of Fatah’s Central Committee, welcomed the accord as a foundation rather than a finish line. “A step in the right direction, but it’s one of many steps,” he said to The Media Line, urging the public to be “cautiously optimistic” while details are worked out.
A two-state solution is the only workable option
He tied durability to statehood, warning that without a recognized political horizon the conflict would remain a “ticking-bomb.” Saidam’s bottom line was clear: “A two-state solution is the only workable option.” He also pressed for a shift in international perception, saying, “America and those supporting Israel should stop seeing the Palestinians with Israeli eyes.”
The agreement’s initial measures are staged. In the first 72 hours, aid convoys are expected to scale up through Rafah and other crossings under coordinated inspection, while Israeli units reposition away from dense urban zones. Lists for the first set of prisoner and hostage releases are being finalized and verified by mediators.
Sequencing is central to the pact’s design. Mediators say the return of living hostages begins the process, followed by staged prisoner releases and repatriation of remains. Israeli repositioning is tied to benchmarks and monitored access routes for relief deliveries.
Enforcement and verification will depend on the mediating states. Egypt and Qatar are expected to handle day-to-day deconfliction with support from Turkey and coordination with US envoys. A small joint cell is under discussion to log violations and recommend corrective steps, though its exact mandate has not been published.
Longer term, governance in Gaza is the most contested issue. Policy options circulated among mediators include a technocratic Palestinian committee or a reformed Palestinian Authority framework, with security handled by a vetted Palestinian force that could receive external training and support. None of those models has been formally adopted.
Israeli domestic politics will shape the feasibility. The government must manage coalition splits over withdrawal timelines and prisoner exchanges, even as commanders balance risk from armed factions that can still fire rockets or mount sabotage. War fatigue, force rotations, and international pressure have narrowed options but not eliminated resistance to concessions.
Hamas faces its own internal calculus. Military commanders inside Gaza and external political leaders have, at times, taken divergent approaches to negotiations. The movement must decide how to engage with any new security architecture and whether to relinquish weapons to a force it does not fully control.
Regional dynamics pushed both sides toward yes. Intensified Israeli operations raised humanitarian alarm, while the strike in Qatar inflamed relations with Gulf partners pivotal to any deal. Those developments, analysts say, created a narrow diplomatic lane for a mediated off-ramp that Egypt and Qatar were positioned to drive.
Economics add urgency. Gaza’s infrastructure is shattered, and reconstruction financing will require sustained security guarantees. Regional investors and international lenders want clarity on border management, customs, and anti-diversion controls before committing large sums.
The mediators’ leverage rests partly on what happens next week. Smooth first exchanges and visible aid delivery could build confidence; a single high-casualty incident or dispute over lists could quickly freeze the process. Officials are drafting contingency steps to keep corridors open even if one track stalls.
In Israel, security agencies will monitor whether armed groups honor the ceasefire and whether smuggling declines along known routes. Any perception of rearmament could trigger snap operations, straining the pact’s credibility and testing the deconfliction channel.
Palestinian politics face a parallel stress test. Fatah and Hamas must navigate overlapping claims to authority while external actors push for an interim governance formula. Saidam’s call for a two-state pathway reflects wider demands from Arab and European capitals that tie reconstruction money to a political track.
Washington remains central. President Trump and his team invested personal capital to line up first-phase commitments, and US officials are expected to shepherd compliance and troubleshoot flare-ups. Future steps—like formalizing a security-sector plan—will likely require direct American engagement and sustained attention from the White House.
Cairo will keep its hand on the tiller. Egypt’s control of Rafah and its intelligence relationships make it indispensable for managing access and brokering fixes when the process wobbles. Raghib said that posture will continue as talks widen from humanitarian priorities to dense political issues.
Qatar’s mediation portfolio will also expand. Doha’s ties to Hamas leadership can facilitate messaging and help coordinate financing for relief and, later, reconstruction under agreed monitoring. Turkish channels to Hamas leadership, coupled with Ankara’s security and humanitarian networks, provide another lever to keep lines open if talks deadlock.
The near-term calendar is clear: a brief window to execute the first exchanges; a slightly longer horizon to stabilize aid delivery and force dispositions; and an early test of whether governance talks can move from conceptual frameworks to concrete appointments and mandates.
What happens in the next 10 days will determine whether the agreement becomes a bridge to a broader political process or stalls as another failed truce. For now, relief trucks are moving, liaison rooms are staffed, and the parties have signed a text that—on paper—ends the war. The durability of that promise will rest on compliance, credible monitoring, and a political horizon that matches what people on the ground experience.
