It is unclear whether Trump’s statement is the incubation of a plan or a slip of the tongue reflecting chatter he was privy to at Mar-a-Lago. But does it matter?

There is "almost nothing left" of Gaza and rebuilding the war-ravaged enclave could take 10 to 15 years, U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Axios in an interview at the end of his trip to the region on Thursday.

Already, the fragile deal has come under considerable stress, and it could collapse in the weeks to come. Yet for the time being, the fighting has stopped in both Gaza and Lebanon, and hostages have begun to come home.