A year ago this week, Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza, and President Trump signed a peace agreement at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, that he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi co-chaired with representatives from roughly 30 countries. The ceasefire that took effect October 10, 2025 ended two years of war that began with the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.
Since then, the deal has moved in stages. Under the first phase, Hamas released all 20 surviving hostages in exchange for Israel freeing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. In January 2026, Israel confirmed that the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, had been returned, fulfilling that phase's final term. Later in the year, Hamas's civil administration in Gaza formally resigned, and in July an agreement was reached for Hamas and other armed groups to disarm, contingent on reconstruction progress and an Israeli military withdrawal.
A year on, Palestinians in Gaza describe the arrangement as a ceasefire that has reduced the intensity of fighting without yet delivering the reconstruction or governance plan that the original 20-point proposal envisioned. There is still no international peacekeeping force deployed in the territory, one of the structural pieces that mediators said would be needed for the deal's later phases. Humanitarian groups continue to report large-scale destruction across Gaza's civilian infrastructure from the war years, and rebuilding efforts remain in early stages.
For Israelis, the anniversary carries its own weight. Families of the hostages gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square a year ago to watch the releases on a jumbotron, a scene that capped a two-year campaign by relatives demanding a deal. The ceasefire, brokered with the United States, Egypt and Qatar as mediators, is widely regarded as a turning point in the war even as questions remain about what comes next for Gaza's governance and security.
Watch for progress, or continued delay, on establishing the international security mechanism and reconstruction funding mechanisms that are meant to follow the ceasefire's first phase.
Is the Gaza war officially over?
A ceasefire has held with phases completed, including the hostage-for-prisoner exchange, but later phases covering disarmament, reconstruction and an international security force are still being worked out.
Who mediated the deal?
The United States, Egypt and Qatar were the main mediators, with President Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi co-chairing the October 2025 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.