New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- A White House timer forces choices on hostages, aid corridors, and disarmament as mediators shuttle between Cairo and Doha.

TEL AVIV -A deadline now governs a war that has defied clocks for nearly two years. With hours left until Sunday at 6 p.m. Washington time, Israel's military signaled that it was preparing for the first phase of a White House plan and Hamas indicated conditional acceptance of parts of President Donald Trump's 20 point proposal to end the fighting in Gaza. The core promise is stark and simple on paper. A ceasefire that holds long enough to bring home every Israeli hostage still alive, repatriate remains, and open a conduit for relief, followed by a sequence of withdrawals, exchanges, and supervis...