The bombing stops as Gaza waits for peace

The most extraordinary thing about war is that when the bombing and shelling and gunfire stop, there is an eerie silence which for the first few hours seems unreal. Everyone expects the bombing to start again. There is a sort of joyessness in the streets but a fear that it won't last. All ceasefires are like that for those who have suffered the daily impact of war. But for Gaza, aftr two years of explosions, no one will quite believe that it's over. The celebrations will last only a short time, and then everyone will wait for the next stage in the peace deal to work out. Gaza is a ruined place, not fit for habitation. But it will still be so much better than when the bombs were falling. Even when the last of the 48 hostages have been released by Hamas, ony 20 of them alive, the people of Gaza will dread the next phase. Will Hamas surrender or will the fighting start up again? The Israeli troops are supposed to withdraw to set lines but they will still occupy more than 50 per cent of the territory. Could this lead to further confrontations? There are so many unknowns at this point. But Donald Trump is so convinced the whole of the Middle East is now going to fall into place, with every country reconciled to a peaceful future that it almost seems possible that the settlement might really work. That would have to include Iran changing its ways, Saudi Arabia recognising Israel, the Houthis in Yemen putting away their missiles and drones and Syria going down the democracy path. That's a lot of things that have got to be sorted out before Trump's dream of a new Middle East can even be contemplated.