“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning,” Churchill said after the Allied victory at El Alamein.

And that’s where we are now with Gaza.

There can be no doubt that the initial agreement on the ceasefire and the release of the hostages has been a major success for all parties.

And a good starting point for the completion of the peace process.

Just as there can be no doubt that this first agreement doesn’t settle everything. It doesn’t even settle the fundamentals.

In essence, the core of Trump’s plan lies in disarming Hamas and excluding the terrorist organization from any involvement in the governing of Gaza. But it is anything but certain that Hamas will spontaneously and in good faith give up its weapons and ambitions, simply because it lacks an alternative vision.

“Resistance” and hatred were almost its entire raison d’être. That, and a few million in cash.

If Gaza is placed under the administration of a multinational authority supported (as it seemingly would be) by every Western and Muslim nation, it will be very difficult for Hamas to continue its activities.

The administration of the Gaza Strip is the next issue. If nothing else, lavish funding will be made available for its reconstruction.

In any case, no neighboring country seems willing to host a Palestinian population. They have paid dearly enough for their hospitality already.

So the question is who and how these resources will be managed for the benefit of Gaza’s long-suffering population.

And, of course, how to address obvious day-to-day issues at the same time, such as policing, monitoring the implementation of the agreement, and humanitarian aid.

No progress has been made on these issues yet. Although it is reasonable to suppose that no one would enter the discussion if they didn’t intend to see it through to completion.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It wouldn’t be the first time things go awry.

Logically, there’s no reason to stay at the end of the beginning and not experience the end of the end. Israel won decisively, Hamas was almost annihilated, Gaza was destroyed.

What more does one need to understand what happened?

Provided, of course, that logic still plays any role in this narrative. Which I’m not convinced it does.