Weekly Briefing: A ceasefire has been declared, but will it be the end of the genocide?

After two years of brutal genocide, a ceasefire is finally on the table in Gaza. The deal reached in Egypt pauses the bombardment, pulls Israeli forces back somewhat, opens the crossings to more aid, and swaps prisoners, but without any binding terms that actually end the war. There’s no written guarantee Israel won’t break the pause after the captive exchanges, as it did in March. Instead, Hamas, the Arab governments, and other international actors are counting on the U.S. government, led by Donald Trump, to guarantee Israel will adhere to the agreement.

Even as the deal was announced, Israeli strikes continued, and tanks fired on displaced families trying to go back to their homes. The first phase of this agreement says people should be allowed to return to Gaza City and the north, yet those areas were systematically destroyed over the past two years, and anyone attempting the trip risks being killed by Israeli forces. A ceasefire that exists on paper but not in reality is a trap, not a path. The Israeli captives are expected to be released starting on Monday. It will take several more days to see how this agreement manifests on the ground.

Our Gaza Correspondent, Tareq Hajjaj, captured the mood of celebration filled with trepidation. After two years of mass death, families want to believe the worst is over; they also know how quickly “pauses” have been followed by resumed bombardment. People are daring to breathe, and in the same breath, bracing for the other shoe to drop.

And then there’s the “secret clause.” Israeli media floated an undisclosed appendix that would let Israel restart the war if Hamas can’t locate every captive, alive or dead, within seventy-two hours. Hamas denies that such a clause exists. Whether or not the text is real almost misses the point. Its circulation serves as a political cover for Netanyahu to blow up the deal if he so chooses. The risk that this pause is merely a holding pattern for the next round is not paranoia; it’s a pattern we’ve already seen.

Which brings us to Washington’s role. Mitchell Plitnick lays out how Trump’s “20-Point Plan” sketches a pathway to ending the genocide, but it’s vague, top-down, and ultimately depends on the U.S. actually enforcing limits on Israel. That history is not encouraging. The plan installs foreign-managed administration over Gaza’s future and punts the core questions of sovereignty, disarmament, and reconstruction into a hazy “later.” Without sustained pressure, the incentives still point toward indefinite control by force, with Palestinians paying the price.

It is also important to say that the reason this deal is happening at all is due to the sustained pressure people worldwide have exerted on their governments to act over the past two years. This deal is being described as a victory for Trump. But he was forced to put pressure on Netanyahu and the Israeli government, in part because his political base is moving away from supporting Israel. Democrats, too, are starting to break with the pro-Israel status quo because the U.S. populace is becoming overwhelmingly opposed to the so-called “special relationship” between the U.S. and Israel. This ceasefire is a response to the global movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We must maintain the pressure, even if the ceasefire remains in place in the long term, which, of course, I hope will be the case.

Any pause in a genocide is a moral good. It gives children a night to sleep and parents a chance to plan for their future. We should welcome it and refuse to mistake it for peace. Netanyahu has made a career out of manufacturing “security crises” to keep Palestinians dispossessed and his coalition intact. Expect attempts to keep Gaza destabilized by baiting confrontations, tightening movement, slow-walking aid, and then pointing to the inevitable friction as justification to reopen the skies. That’s the logic of colonialism and siege. Our job is to name it while insisting on the only durable outcome that actually prevents a return to mass killing: a binding end to the war, an end to the blockade, and real freedom for Palestinians.

Before you go: we’re in our Fall Fundraising Campaign and need to raise $145,000 in the next two weeks to keep this coverage coming. Right now, every donation is matched, dollar for dollar, so your gift has double the impact. If you value our independent reporting that cuts through the spin and centers Palestinian life, this is the moment we need you to step up with financial support. Thank you for having our back.

– Dave Reed, Publisher

Must Read: What we know about the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and what comes next

Qassam Muaddi: The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas includes halting military actions, an Israeli withdrawal, increased humanitarian aid, and a prisoner swap. But it doesn’t guarantee an end to the war or that Israel won’t resume the genocide.

Genocide in Gaza

🇺🇸 Mitchell Plitnick: Donald Trump’s “20-Point Plan” could provide a path to end the Gaza genocide, but it is limited by a lack of details and the uncertainty of whether the U.S. is willing to enforce it on Israel.

🇵🇸 Tareq Hajjaj: Gaza erupted in celebration as a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached on Thursday. But while there has been an outpouring of joy over the prospect of an end to the genocide, many are skeptical that it’s truly over.

🇮🇱 Qassam Muaddi: Hebrew-language Israeli media reports say there is a “secret clause” buried in the Gaza ceasefire agreement that would allow Israel to resume the war. Palestinians worry this is the pretext Netanyahu needs to get out of completing the deal.

✍️ Hamza Abu Al-Tarabeesh: I never imagined my mission would be this painful: to write the stories of my neighbors, friends, and family erased in Gaza’s genocide.

Catch-up

🫏 Michael Arria: As Gaza flotilla activists share stories of abuse in Israeli detention, Democratic lawmakers are demanding that the State Department take action.

🇵🇸 Qassam Muaddi: Taybeh, a small West Bank village known for its Christian heritage, is far from Gaza. But in the two years since October 7, life has changed dramatically as the genocide and Israeli occupation have affected all Palestinians.

🐘 Michael Arria: Politico recently declared, “An Entire Generation of Americans Is Turning on Israel.” To the surprise of some, this massive political shift includes the Republican Party.

✊ Abdaljawad Omar: Two years on, the memory of October 7 returns as both catastrophe and possibility, reminding us that both resistance and surrender are choices haunted by loss. But two years on, we also learned something else: they are defeatable.

☮️ Taraq Hajjaj: Many in Gaza believe that Trump’s “peace” plan is a ploy to get the Israeli captives released and then resume the genocide. However, despite deep skepticism, the desperation to end the war outweighs everything else.

🚨 Michael Arria: The Trump administration’s crackdown on dissent started with its targeting of Palestine protesters. Two years into the Gaza genocide, we are now seeing these attacks expand to all critics, regardless of their connection to Palestine.