India, Oct. 10 -- Gunfire will cease in Gaza after two years of war and more than 67,000 deaths. According to US President Donald Trump, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire as part of implementing a 20-point peace plan mooted by him. Hamas has agreed to release hostages - 48 of them, though only 20 are believed to be alive - and Israel, in return, will release prisoners, withdraw its forces from Gaza city, and allow aid to reach the Palestinian civilian population, bombed out of their homes and starved of food, water, medicines, and other essentials. Trump, who perceives himself as a peacemaker and dealmaker deserving the Nobel Prize for stopping multiple wars - the Nobel committee will announce the peace prize today - may even travel to West Asia to witness the exchange of hostages and prisoners. Hopefully, the ceasefire will lead to a durable peace in West Asia - on the edge since October 7, 2023, when Hamas brutally attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking a large number of hostages. Israel retaliated ferociously by razing Gaza to rubble and targeting Hamas leaders in Lebanon, Syria and Qatar, leading to a limited war with Iran involving the US as well, and making the whole of West Asia insecure. The ceasefire is just the first phase of the peace plan. The immediate task, of course, is to end the fighting and enable the delivery of aid to the hapless Palestinians. Rebuilding and reconciliation are tricky issues that will require major negotiation and building of trust among the stakeholders. Issues such as the establishment of the Palestinian State, backed by a majority of the world community but rejected by Israel, and the role of Hamas, the predominant voice in Gaza, can be resolved only through consensus-building and statesmanship. Since much of the Arab world is on board for the peace plan, including the interim governance arrangement mooted for Gaza, there is no reason to doubt the efficacy of the plan. Both Israel and Hamas have been losers in this war: Tel Aviv lost moral standing, with UN bodies describing its actions as genocide, and global political support; the mass rallies in the West, including the US, are evidence of this. And the terrorist act of Hamas has come at a great human cost and possibly, its end as a political force. Both parties (the Benjamin Netanyahu administration and Hamas) stand diminished and, most likely, alienated from their own people, for eschewing the path of negotiation and coexistence and pursuing a path of mindless violence....