A 'Historic Dawn' in the Middle East?

PAST EVENT VIDEO

Professor Lisa Anderson and Ambassador Daniel Shapiro join the Council's Cécile Shea to discuss the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

An Israeli hostage released from the Gaza Strip walks off a helicopter at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel.

Leo Correa / AP

Speakers

Lisa Anderson
Daniel B. Shapiro
Cécile Shea

Event Date

October 14, 2025

About This Event

Following Israel's cabinet approval of the US-brokered ceasefire and the hostage-prisoner exchange, President Trump traveled to Israel on Monday to proclaim an "end" to the war and to cohost the Summit for Peace in Egypt. Yet Israel and Hamas have not agreed on next steps in Gaza. So far, the ceasefire has gone accordingly, but how does one secure sustainable peace for one of the most complex geopolitical situations of our time? How will humanitarian aid and security assistance be guaranteed? And what roles are US, UN, and regional partners such as Qatar playing?

Join us for our second Rapid Response Live Stream on the Israel-Hamas Phase One Deal. Columbia University’s Professor Lisa Anderson and the Atlantic Council’s Ambassador Daniel Shapiro join the Council’s Cécile Shea to consider these questions and more.

About the Speakers

Lisa Anderson

James T. Shotwell Professor Emerita of International Relations, Columbia University

Dr. Lisa Anderson served as president of the American University in Cairo from 2011-2016. Before her appointment as president, she was the university’s provost, a position she had assumed in 2008. She is Dean Emerita of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia, where she led the school from 1997-2007.

Daniel B. Shapiro

Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council

Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro is a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. Previously, he was the director of the N7 Initiative. In his most recent government service, Shapiro was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. He's a former US ambassador to Israel, having served in that role from 2011 to 2017.

Cécile Shea

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Security and Diplomacy

Cécile Shea is a nonresident senior fellow on security and diplomacy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She is the president of Wakaru Communications and a special advisor to the Council’s Next Generation programs.