From the new York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams.
This is the Daily.
Today, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas enters its final phase,
no one knows who will control the future of Gaza, Israel, Hamas, or possibly President Trump.
My colleague, Jerusalem Bureau Chief Patrick Kingsley,
walks us through this delicate moment and the questions hovering over the future of the war.
It's Wednesday, February 26th.
Patrick, we're in the final days of the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas,
which was outlined very clearly in terms of what each side had to give to the other.
And now we're entering into this next phase,
which is not yet negotiated and could lead to more talks,
but it could also end up leading just to more war, which we'll get to in a moment.
But just to start, how, in your estimation, has this first part of the process actually gone?
Several mini crises aside, it has gone roughly to plan.
And that plan was to exchange 33 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas
and its allies for roughly 1500 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails.
Just to recap, at the start of the war, Hamas and its allies raided Israel,
captured roughly 250 hostages, both dead and alive, brought them back to Gaza.
Some of them were exchanged in a previous hostage for prisoner deal in late 2023.
A handful have been rescued in Israeli military operations,