Across Israel and the occupied territories, Israelis and Palestinians are expressing conflicted feelings of joy, despair, relief, and anxiety.

The world has witnessed happy scenes of families reuniting, as the 20 remaining living hostages that Hamas took on October 7, 2023, were returned to Israel, and more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners were released.

The ceasefire is holding for now, even as both sides accuse the other of violating the terms. The daily aerial bombardments have stopped, and Gazans are returning to what’s left of their homes. The violence has not entirely ended, though.

President Donald Trump spoke to a rapturous audience at Israel’s Knesset, where he was feted for his role in brokering the ceasefire deal. He then attended a peace summit with more than 20 world leaders in Egypt.

But amid the celebrations and the grieving, there are many remaining questions about whether Hamas will disarm and relinquish power, and who will lead Gaza in its place.

Today, Explained host Noel King spoke to Nidal Al-Mughrabi, a Cairo-based senior correspondent for Reuters. Al-Mughrabi has worked for Reuters since 1996 and lost his Gaza home in an Israeli bombardment, but says he and other Palestinians are hopeful that the peace will endure this time.

Nidal, understandably, there’s a lot of optimism about this peace deal. You’ve been reporting even today on what Hamas is doing in Gaza. What’s going on?

Since the ceasefire came into effect, Hamas forces have been deployed into the streets of the Gaza Strip, in areas where the army pulled back from, in an attempt to........

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