WSJ What’s News - Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Kick Off in Egypt

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

A.M. Edition for Oct. 6. Peace talks to end the war in Gaza are underway in Cairo, Egypt. WSJ’s Anat Peled explains the key elements of the proposed deal. Plus, in an emergency ruling, a federal judge in Oregon blocked the Trump administration from using the state’s National Guard, citing overreach. And, Japanese markets surge after the country elects its first female prime minister. Caitlin McCabe hosts.  Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ceasfire talks for Gaza begin in Egypt today, with officials hopeful for a deal that would secure the release of all Israeli hostages. While Trump has been very optimistic, says he wants to get this done fast, a lot of the thorny details have been glossed over, and now we're really going to get down to the details this week. Plus, a federal judge blocks President Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Oregon. And Japan is set to get its first female prime minister, a staunch conservative, who favors more borrowing and spending. It's Monday, October 6th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal, and here's the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Highly anticipated talks are set to kick off in Egypt today, and what officials are hoping could pave the way for a long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza. Negotiators from the U.S., Israel, Hamas, and Middle Eastern countries will try to come to agreements over crucial points, including Israeli military withdrawal lines in Gaza and a potential

exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. A breakthrough in the talks would be a crucial first step toward ending the two-year conflict in the region, but officials say, lasting peace remains a more distant goal. Speaking yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press, Secretary of State Marker Rubi said the second phase of ending the war is figuring out what happens inside Gaza after Israel withdraws to the agreed-upon lines. How do you create this Palestinian technocratic leadership that's not Hamas, that's not terrorists, and with the help of the international community, how do you disarm any sort of terrorist

groups that are going to be building tunnels and conducting attacks against Israel? How do you get them to demobilize? All that work, that's going to be hard, but that's critical because without that, you're not going to have lasting peace. The Wall Street Journal's Tel Aviv correspondent Annat Pallette has been following the peace talks closely. She says that while President Trump is feeling optimistic about the discussions, there's still a long road ahead. Anat, thanks for being here. Let's start with some background. These peace talks have been long anticipated. How did they come about?

Yeah, so we had Trump present what he called his peace plan, a 20-point peace plan, to end the war in Gaza, but also in many ways how he presented it, bring peace to the Middle East. And he presented this last week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A lot of this came about our reporting shows after an Israeli miscalculated strike on Hamas leaders in Doha Qatar last month. That led to a lot of international anger and also to an Arab consensus that surprised the White House and Netanyahu. However, it's important to note that while Trump has been very optimistic, says he wants to get this done fast, A lot of the thorny details have been kind of glossed over, and now we're really going to get down to the details this week. Can you walk us through the key elements of a potential deal? Yeah. So the 20-point plan that Trump presented is extremely ambitious, I have to say.

It's not just to reach a ceasefire or for a prisoner and hostage exchange. It actually lays out other elements, which include Arab forces from different countries, entering Gaza and working as a stabilizing force. it includes technocratic Palestinian committee, it includes a hostage and prisoner release within 72 hours, everyone. So it's very ambitious. The first part of the deal, according to how it's currently outlined, is supposed to see a hostage and prisoner release, Palestinian prisoner release, within 72 hours when Hamas and Israel come to an agreement. And then there's other trickier issues. For example, I think the governance is going to be extremely tricky because we know that also Hamas, Right now has reservations about giving up power and fully demilitarizing.

So we're supposed to see this exchange take place. And Trump said he would like to see that within a week. Yeah, I want to dig in a little bit more to this potential hostages for prisoner swap. Obviously, you mentioned the 72 hour mark. How realistic is that? So I do not think that most sides see that is very realistic. Hamas has already told Arab mediators in conversations that it will have trouble doing so within 72 hours, it says that it has lost contact with some of the groups that are holding

the living hostages. Israel believes they're up to 20 living hostages. And it also will have trouble, you know, locating all the bodies of the deceased hostages, where we have over 20 deceased hostages. Israeli intelligence that finding the deceased hostage bodies is also going to be tricky because they know that they have been moved around at times. Yeah, that seems quite complicated. I want to dig into one other complicated factor here. There's a bit of an interesting twist with these peace talks, right? The leader of the Hamas delegation is a man that Israel tried to kill in a missile attack just a few weeks ago. Yeah. So that's going to be interesting dynamic. So first of all, it's important to say that Israel and Hamas will not be talking directly

to each other. They will be talking through mediators. So they're not going to be sitting in the same room. But yes, senior Hamas leaders, you know, most of them have actually been killed by Israel and Gaza, but Hamas also has leadership outside of Gaza that sits in Doha. And so that's going to be an interesting dynamic. I think that they will probably fear for their safety. And how is all of this being received on the ground in Gaza? I think Gazans have been through horrific times. So Israeli military controls over 75 percent of Gaza. So Gazans have been moved to an ever-shinking piece of land. And just talking to Gazans, it's been horrific. I think Gazans are desperate for this war to end. They just want this to stop.

They want the bombing to stop. So they are hopeful that Hamas will accept this deal. That's Wall Street Journal reporter, Annaut, Pallet. Anat, thank you for joining us on this very busy week for you. Thanks for having me. Coming up, Japanese market surge after the country elects its first female prime minister. Plus, in a bid to catch up on AI, Elon Musk is gambling billions in Memphis. Those stories and more after the break.

While other money managers are holding, Dynamic is hunting. Seeing past the horizon, investing beyond the benchmark, because your money can't grow if it doesn't move. Learn more at dynamic.ca.cath. The simmering confrontation between the White House and Democratic governors continues this week over plans to mobilize federal troops and cities led by Democrats. In Illinois, President Trump has pressed ahead with plans to federalize 300 members of the Illinois

National Guard over the objection of Governor J.B. Pritzker. The Illinois governor stated that federalization would cause chaos and is a, quote, manufactured performance, end quote, rather than a safety effort. Speaking outside the White House yesterday, President Trump criticized Pritzker, saying he was wrong. And I think that Pritzker, he's not a stupid person. I think that Pritzker's afraid for his life. Trump has increasingly used the military on U.S. soil, either to participate in what he has called a crime crackdown or to protect immigration and customs enforcement facilities and agents from Americans who protest against his policies. Meanwhile, in an emergency hearing last night, a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the deployment of any National Guard under the Trump

administration's control inside the state. Judge Karen Emmergud said on Saturday that the Trump administration had overstepped its authority and couldn't deploy Oregon's National Guard to Portland. President Trump expressed his frustration over the ruling, adding that he wasn't, quote, served well, end quote, by a judge who the president appointed during his first term. And the Supreme Court officially returns for a new term today after a summer break, which didn't offer much of a reprieve. as justices have refereed a flood of emergency disputes involving the Trump administration. The Supreme Court will hear seven months' worth of cases, including ones that could shape the Trump presidency, U.S. elections, and transgender rights.

Oil prices are rising in early trading this morning after the organization of the petroleum exporting countries and its allies agreed to a restrained increase in oil production. The group, known as OPEC Plus, will increase oil production by 137,000 barrels a day in November, in line with October's rise. The move signals caution as the group seeks to regain market share without triggering a price slump. Brent crude has already fallen over 13% this year, amid rising supply and fears of a global glut. More recently, though, prices have remained steady, trading between $65 and $70 a barrel. Meanwhile, Japanese markets are swinging sharply this morning after Sinai Takiichi's election as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as investors bet on her pledge for aggressive fiscal expansion. Japan's main stock index jumped more than 4% led by gains in manufacturing and tech shares.

Meanwhile, the yen weakened nearly 2% against the dollar, while Japanese bonds also fell. Her election as head of the Liberal Democratic Party signals a sharp rightward shift in Japanese. Japanese politics fueled by voter frustration over immigration and stubborn inflation. The election also mirrors broader global trends, with populist movements gaining ground. And finally, Elon Musk has been at the forefront of innovation of many things, electric vehicles, rockets, and brain computer interfaces. But when it comes to artificial intelligence, he finds himself in the unusual position of playing catch-up to rivals like Sam Altman's Open AI. In his race, to compete, Musk has planted a flag in Memphis, Tennessee. His artificial intelligence company

XAI has already built one massive data center called Colossus in the area. Now he's close to finishing a second facility, which will be even bigger. He's calling it Colossus 2. It's a project that sparked both excitement and backlash. Musk's pitch to Memphis is that he is building infrastructure that will benefit the city. But the data centers will probably add only a few hundred jobs, while consuming millions of gallons of water a day and more electricity than is needed to power all the city's homes. XAI declined to comment, as did Memphis City officials. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Today's show is produced by Kate Bolivant. Our supervising producer is Pierce Lynch. And I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal.

We'll be back tonight with the new show. Until then, thanks for listening. Thank you.