Perry World House Q&A: The Middle East Ceasefire Agreement Between Israel and Hamas

At 12:00 p.m. local time—or 5:00 a.m. ET—a U.S.-drafted ceasefire agreement went into effect between Israel and Hamas. The agreement is intended to stop the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza and give Israel and Hamas the space to try to arrive at a peace agreement that would permanently end the more than two-years-long war. It would also see the Israeli military begin to withdraw from Gaza and release all Palestinian prisoners, while Hamas would release their remaining Israeli hostages. This agreement will also allow aid to begin filtering back into a war-ravaged Gaza.

Perry World House asked Penn experts to provide their thoughts of the ceasefire plan, if they thought the plan was likely to last, and what the next steps are to achieving peace between Israel and Hamas.