WEEKLY UPDATE - 10.10.2025

Israel and Hamas Agree to Initial Stage of Ceasefire

Early Friday morning, the Israeli cabinet agreed to the terms of an initial agreement that would free the remaining hostages and potentially end the two-year conflict in Gaza. The IDF said that it had begun to reposition troops to security perimeter within Gaza and according to the Washington Post, would maintain control of about half of the Gaza strip. The IDF also announced that Palestinians could return to their homes in north. According to the terms of the agreement, Hamas has 72 hours to release the Israeli hostages it has held for more than two years. Trump has previously said that hostages will be released on Monday or Tuesday. Israel will also release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life-sentences and another 1,700 people detained since 7 OCT 2023, many of whom have not been charged or convicted of a crime.

Many of the terms of the deal remain unclear at the time of writing and several experienced analysts have noted that Israeli and US leaders have spoken about the deal differently suggesting that the potential for pitfalls ahead. The IDF noted that it continues to conduct operations in areas close to its troops remaining in the security perimeter in Gaza. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, expressed his opposition to the deal and said that his party would vote against the deal. Earlier this year, the Israeli government chose to end a previous cease-fire rather than proceed to the second phase. According to Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, Hamas agreed to the terms of the deal only after securing a promise from US President Trump that he would not let Israel return to war. The specifics of the thornier issues surrounding Trump’s 20-point plan, such as the disarmament of Hamas, remain unresolved.

The UN and other aid groups are preparing to deliver large quantities of food and medical aid to Gaza in coming days, describing the situation there as “dire.” The UN aims to deliver between 500-600 of truckloads of food daily including special rations for those facing acute hunger in Gaza.

Around the Region

• North Africa:

  • The youth-led protests in Morocco entered a second week as the leaderless Gen Z 212 movement held protests in Rabat and Tangier on Thursday ahead of King Mohammed VI’s planned speech before parliament on Friday. The protests erupted last month after eight pregnant women died at a hospital in Agadir and called attention to the government’s spending on lavish stadiums rather than on the Moroccan population.

  • US prosecutors claimed that a Libyan national, Abu Agila Mas’ud al-Marimi, confessed to involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and an attempt to assassinate a US politician. Mas’ud rejected the claim saying that his confession was coerced after he was taken by three masked men.

• The Gulf:

  • The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration are close to concluding an agreement that would have US chip manufacturers export semiconductors to Saudi Arabia. The chips would be used in data centers used for training AI models. The Trump administration concluded a similar agreement with the UAE on Thursday.

  • The US announced that it had concluded an agreement with Qatar to build a facility for the Qatari Air Force at a US airbase in Mountain Home, ID. The facility would allow for Qatari pilots to receive training alongside US pilots.

• The Levant:

  • Syria’s Foreign Minister Assad Shaibani visited Lebanon for the first-time since the collapse of the Assad regime. During a joint-press conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Shaibani committed to forging a new path in relations between the two neighboring countries. Historically, Syria often sought to dominate and control the politics of Lebanon through political violence and intimidation.

  • Deadly clashes between Syrian state forces and a Kurdish militia rocked Aleppo on Monday. At least one government soldier and a civilian were killed in the clashes according to SANA, Syria’s state news agency. The Syrian government announced that truce had been reached Tuesday. The clashes erupted in two predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods in Syria’s largest city. Syrian Kurdish militias and the government of interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa remain locked in talks regarding the integration of Kurdish forces into the state’s security services.

Recommended:

• “Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef makes comeback to Egyptian TV” CNN

• “Anti-Semitism is Poison for the Palestinian Cause” The Atlantic

• “The Balad of Fadel Chaker” Newlines Magazine