Hamas lost the war, now it's time to win the peace

A ceasefire dawns over Gaza, the immediate challenge facing the world is to make it into a real peace. This starts with the return of all Israeli hostages — even though the corollary of that is the release of Palestinian terrorists who have blood on their hands from heinous crimes — an Israeli partial pullback and a surge of humanitarian aid to civilians.

- By Alan Mendoza

HISTORIC: Crowds in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square after news of Gaza peace deal

But for this to progress to permanence, three issues must be resolved: the disarming of Hamas and its departure from power, the governance of Gaza free from terrorist control and the question of who will enforce the peace.

These are not small matters.

Each represents a potential fault line that could determine whether this agreement becomes a historic turning point or yet another false dawn.

There will almost certainly be a large degree of fudge and muddle over these issues, so desperate is the world to end this conflict.

Hamas has survived for decades by exploiting international hesitancy and turning every ceasefire into some breathing space for rearmament. Unless this deal decisively breaks that cycle, the next round of war is inevitable.

What is evident, however, is that signing this deal will see Hamas on the verge of a final and historic defeat. Returning the hostages means it loses the leverage that has stayed Israel’s hand from causing its utter destruction over the past two years.