New Delhi, Oct. 9 -- Trump's "first phase" Gaza deal, a fragile pause with hostages freed and troops stepping back

Tel Aviv -The war that has defined the region for two bruising years reached a hinge point on Thursday, as Israel and Hamas accepted the first phase of a United States plan that pairs a pause in fighting with the release of captives and a drawdown of Israeli forces inside Gaza. It is not a peace, and it is not yet permanent. It is a start, pressed forward by deadlines, shuttled by mediators, and greeted by families who have lived for months by the minute hand of a clock.

In public, the announcement arrived with split screen images. In Tel Aviv, relatives of hostages clutched one another in Hostages Square and let out measur...