War & Conflict

The White House's 2025 20-point proposal for Gaza included an immediate end to hostilities once both sides accept, a pullback of Israeli forces to a designated 'initial line' inside Gaza to allow hostage handovers, and suspension of military operations during those transfers.

The White House's 2025 20-point proposal specified that all 48 hostages, living and deceased, would be returned within 72 hours of both sides publicly accepting the agreement.

The White House's 2025 20-point proposal called for Israel to release roughly 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and about 1,700 Gaza residents detained since the war began in exchange for returning hostages.

Local health officials reported in 2025 that more than 67,000 people in Gaza had been killed in the conflict since October 7, 2023, equivalent to approximately one in every 34 Gazans.

A United Nations commission concluded in 2025 that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

A U.S. 20-point peace plan (2025) proposes that all hostages, dead and alive, be returned within 72 hours after Hamas agrees to the deal; the plan calls for Israeli military withdrawal, the complete disarmament of Hamas, amnesty for Hamas members in exchange for disarmament, and an option for disarmed members to leave Gaza for third-party countries willing to accept them.

Maritime aid flotillas have been used to attempt to break the Israeli siege or blockade of Gaza.

Reuters reported that Hamas-run Gaza health authorities claimed that Israel's military campaign had resulted in over 67,000 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, in 2025.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas commonly include arrangements to exchange or release Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel.

Since the full-scale invasion on 2022-02-24, Russian forces have targeted Ukraine's power grid and have increased such attacks ahead of winter.

Ukraine has conducted long-range strikes on Russia that have targeted Russian oil infrastructure and have contributed to persistent fuel shortages.

Ukraine's railway network is essential for military transport and is a strategic target in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Israel enforces a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Maritime activist flotillas are organized civilian boat missions that aim to challenge naval blockades and deliver humanitarian or symbolic aid.

A 2025 U.S. peace plan specified that Hamas would release 48 remaining hostages, about 20 of whom were believed to be alive, within three days.

A 2025 U.S. peace plan proposed that Hamas would give up power in Gaza and disarm as part of a settlement.

A 2025 U.S. peace plan linked a hostage release to a reciprocal exchange involving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

U.S. officials in 2025 described a two-phase approach to ceasefire negotiations in which an initial hostage release would be followed by an Israeli military pullback to a previously held boundary position, while decisions about Gaza's future governing structure could be negotiated concurrently.

Israel maintains a maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israel has a longstanding dependency on the United States as its chief patron and primary security ally.

Indirect negotiations between a state and a non-state armed group are commonly conducted through third-party intermediaries, including regional and international actors.

National leaders commonly seek to shape the wording of ceasefire or peace proposals—such as provisions on pathways to statehood, phased military withdrawals, and disarmament commitments—to increase domestic political acceptability.

Military strikes targeting senior leaders of non-state armed groups on the territory of a third country can provoke diplomatic friction with allied states.

A 2025 peace proposal from President Donald Trump was structured as a 20-point plan aimed at ending the Gaza conflict and securing the release of hostages.

The 2025 Trump peace proposal called for an end to Israel's military operations in Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip under a Palestinian governing body overseen by a U.S.-led international coalition.

The proposed plan specified that Hamas would release the remaining hostages taken on October 7, 2023 within 72 hours of an agreement, and that Israel would release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences plus 1,700 other Gazans detained after the start of the conflict as part of the exchange.

During the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, approximately 1,200 people were killed and about 251 individuals were taken into the Gaza Strip.

The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza.

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas began in 2023 following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 (commonly dated 2022-02-24).

Since February 2022, attacks on Ukraine have repeatedly targeted the country's energy infrastructure during winter months, employing missiles and attack drones and causing widespread power outages.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 2022-02-24.

Since 2022-02-24, Russian forces have carried out attacks on Ukraine's civilian power grid, with patterns of increased strikes ahead of winter that have disrupted civilians' access to heat, electricity, and running water.

The Oct. 6, 1973 war between Egypt and Israel (commonly known as the October War) is historically linked to the process that resulted in Egypt regaining control of the Sinai Peninsula.

A peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump called for Hamas to free all remaining hostages and for the Israeli military to begin withdrawing from parts of Gaza in phases; the plan also proposed transferring parts of Gaza to a "technocratic" Palestinian committee and deploying a temporary security force backed by Arab states.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.

Hamas has historically rejected demands that it disarm and that it have no role in the governance of Gaza.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel, and many other countries.

A proposed ceasefire and prisoner-exchange framework attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump included releasing 48 remaining Israeli hostages (about 20 of whom were described as believed to be alive) in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including about 250 serving life sentences and approximately 1,700 detainees from Gaza who were arrested after the October 7, 2023 attack, and envisioned handing over control of Gaza to a technocratic international body.

The principle of proportionality in international humanitarian law requires that even legitimate self-defense measures be proportionate and avoid causing excessive harm to civilians.

International humanitarian law prohibits collective punishment, indiscriminate attacks, and forcible transfer (forced displacement) of civilian populations.