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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/world/middleeast/gaza-talks-phase-two.html
Now Comes the Hard Part for the Gaza Ceasefire Plan
(New York Times) David M. Halbfinger - Getting Israel's hostages released from Gaza and stopping the war may have taken two years, but that was almost certainly the easy part. Getting Hamas to give up its weapons, and demilitarize Gaza - key preconditions for Israel to pull out of Gaza fully - could prove a lot harder. The U.S. plan, which outlined a comprehensive solution for Gaza, also called for the establishment of an international force to help maintain security, and the creation of a temporary Palestinian governing committee, whose work would be overseen by an international board. "The main issue still hasn't been solved: Hamas's weapons," said Akram Atallah, a London-based Palestinian columnist originally from Gaza. "The Israelis are demanding Hamas disarm, which is not a simple administrative measure. Hamas was founded on the basis of bearing arms." Several Israeli officials described the ceasefire agreement so far as a simple trade in which Israel gave away roughly half of Gaza in exchange for its hostages. To get Israel to leave the rest of the territory, they said, it will need to give up its arms and let another entity step in to govern the enclave.