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Iran expressed deep skepticism Saturday about Israel's willingness to honor a Gaza ceasefire that took effect just one day earlier, casting doubt on the durability of an agreement meant to end two years of devastating conflict.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a stark warning, citing what he described as Israel's history of violating previous truces. "We warn about the tricks and betrayals of the Zionist regime (Israel) regarding previous agreements... There is absolutely no trust in the Zionist regime," Araghchi said, pointing to broken ceasefires including those in Lebanon.
The remarks from Tehran underscored the fragile nature of the U.S.-brokered deal, which aims to halt a war that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered a massive military response that left 1,219 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The ceasefire faces significant obstacles beyond its initial phase, with Hamas making clear it will not accept key provisions of President Donald Trump's peace plan. Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas's political bureau, warned in an interview with AFP in Qatar that "the second phase of the Trump plan, as it is clear from the points themselves, contains many complexities and difficulties."
While the agreement's first stage focuses on exchanging hostages and prisoners and a partial Israeli withdrawal, subsequent phases envision Hamas disarming and ceding control of Gaza — conditions the group has flatly rejected.
"Our Palestinian people and the resistance force will undoubtedly confront and use all their capabilities to repel this aggression if this battle is imposed," Badran said, though he added Hamas does not seek renewed conflict.
A Hamas official, speaking anonymously to AFP, said disarmament was "out of the question." The group also announced it would not attend Monday's formal signing ceremony in Egypt, where international leaders are scheduled to discuss implementing the ceasefire's first phase.
The Trump administration demonstrated its commitment to the agreement Saturday with a high-profile diplomatic push. U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, visited Gaza to coordinate the next phase with Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.
Witkoff, Kushner and Trump's daughter Ivanka then traveled to Tel Aviv for a vigil with families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. A large crowd greeted them with cheers and chants of "Thank you Trump!"
"Your courage has moved the world," Witkoff told the families. "To the hostages themselves: you are coming home."
Hamas faces a Monday noon deadline to hand over 47 remaining Israeli hostages — both living and dead — from the 251 people abducted two years ago. The remains of one additional hostage, held in Gaza since 2014, are also expected to be returned.
In exchange, Israel will release 250 prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly anti-Israeli attacks, along with 1,700 Gazans detained by the military since the war began. The Israeli prison service said Saturday it had moved the 250 national security detainees to prisons in the occupied West Bank and southern Israel's Negev desert ahead of the handover.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among roughly 20 hostages believed to still be alive, said: "We will continue to shout and fight until everyone is home."
More than 500,000 Palestinians had returned to Gaza City by Saturday evening, according to the territory's civil defense agency, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority. Many found their neighborhoods transformed into landscapes of destruction.
Raja Salmi, 52, walked for hours to reach the Al-Rimal neighborhood. "We walked for hours, and every step was filled with fear and anxiety for my home," she told AFP. When she arrived, her house had been utterly destroyed. "I stood before it and cried. All those memories are now just dust."
Drone footage shot showed entire city blocks reduced to a twisted mess of concrete and steel reinforcing wire. The walls and windows of five-story apartment blocks had been torn off and now lay choking the roadsides as residents sifted through rubble.
Men, women and children navigated streets filled with debris, searching for homes amid collapsed concrete slabs, destroyed vehicles and wreckage. While some returned in vehicles, most walked, carrying belongings in bags strapped to their shoulders.
Sami Musa, 28, returned alone to check on his family's house. "Thank God... I found that our home is still standing," he told AFP. But the scene around him painted a grim picture. "It felt like a ghost town, not Gaza. The smell of death still lingers in the air."
Under the Trump plan, as Israel conducts a phased withdrawal from Gaza's cities, it will be replaced by a multinational force from Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, coordinated by a U.S.-led command center in Israel.
The United Nations humanitarian office said Israel has allowed agencies to start transporting 170,000 tonnes of aid into Gaza if the ceasefire holds — a critical provision for a population that has endured widespread destruction and severe shortages.
The war has killed at least 67,682 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible. The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.
As diplomats prepare for Monday's gathering in Egypt, the ceasefire's future remains uncertain. With Hamas refusing to disarm, Iran publicly questioning Israel's reliability, and the territory lying in ruins, the agreement faces substantial challenges beyond its initial prisoner exchange phase.
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