The Gaza "First Phase" Agreement: Assesments and Implications

With President Trump’s announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of his Gaza peace plan, the imminent release of Israel’s hostages and an end to fighting in the territory are in sight. Along with joy and relief come numerous questions—about implementation details, linkage to subsequent phases of the peace plan, and repercussions for conflict on other fronts, from Yemen to Iran.

To discuss this breakthrough and its implications, The Washington Institute is pleased to announce a virtual Policy Forum with Michael Herzog, David Makovsky, Nickolay Mladenov, Neomi Neumann, and Ghaith al-Omari, moderated by Segal Executive Director Robert Satloff. 

Michael Herzog, the Tisch Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute, is a retired IDF brigadier general who served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2021 to 2025.

David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at the Institute and a former advisor to the State Department’s special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Nickolay Mladenov, the Institute’s Segal Distinguished Visiting Fellow, is a Bulgarian diplomat who served from 2015 to 2020 as UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

Neomi Neumann, who focused on Palestinian affairs during her 2023–25 visiting fellowship at the Institute, formerly led the research unit at the Israel Security Agency.

Ghaith al-Omari is the Institute’s Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow and a former advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during the permanent-status talks in 1999–2001.

The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.