Hamas, Israel reach final draft of Gaza ceasefire after ‘breakthrough’ in talks
Mediators on Monday presented Israel and Hamas with a final draft agreement to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the talks said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks involving representatives of both US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump. Trump.
The official said that during talks in Doha, which included the heads of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies and Qatar’s prime minister, Qatar presented the text for the ceasefire and the release of hostages to both sides.
According to official information, Steve Witkoff, who will be the US ambassador after Trump returns to the US presidency next week, took part in the talks. Outgoing Biden administration envoy Brett McGurk was also there, a source in the US said.
“The next 24 hours will be key to reaching a deal,” he said, describing the official draft as the result of progress made on Monday morning.
Israeli and Hamas delegations in Qatar have accepted both projects and the Israeli delegation has briefed Israeli leaders, Israel’s Cannes Radio reported on Monday, citing an Israeli official. Israel, Hamas and Qatar’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for confirmation or comment.
Officials from both sides described progress in the talks, not just confirming that a final draft had been reached.
A senior Israeli official said that if Hamas responds to the offer, a deal could be concluded within days. A Palestinian official close to the talks said the news from Doha was “very encouraging”, adding: “The gaps were narrowing and if everything goes well until the end, there is a big push towards an agreement.”
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been working on talks to end the war in Gaza for more than a year.
Trump’s deadline is approaching
Both sides have been broadly agreed for months on the principle of a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. However, Hamas has always insisted that the deal should lead to a permanent end to the war and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has said it will not end the war until Hamas is eliminated.
Trump’s inauguration on January 20 is now considered a de facto deadline in the region. The president-elect has said there will be “hell to pay” if the hostages held by Hamas are not released before he takes office, while outgoing President Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leaves.
The official said talks continued into the early hours of Monday, with Witkoff pushing the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to push Hamas officials to finalize the deal.
Talks between Israel and Hamas to broker a cease-fire and hostage-release deal have resumed in Cairo, and sources close to the talks say a deal could be signed in the coming days. Palestinians in southern Gaza say they hope this round of talks will lead to an end to the war and a return to life.
The head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, was also in the capital of Qatar as part of the negotiations, the official said.
Witkoff, Trump’s representative, has visited Qatar and Israel several times since late November. He was in Doha on Friday and traveled to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday before returning to Doha.
Biden also spoke to Netanyahu on the phone on Sunday, stressing the “urgent need for a cease-fire and the return of hostages in Gaza, and the need to increase humanitarian aid provided by the cessation of hostilities under the agreement.”
5 people were killed as a result of the Israeli attack on the school shelter
According to doctors, bloodshed continued in Gaza on Monday, and at least 21 people were killed as a result of Israeli military attacks. This includes 5 people who died as a result of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City.
Israel launched an attack on Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas fighters crossed the border, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli sources.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, with much of the enclave devastated and many of its residents displaced, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a staunch nationalist who opposed previous attempts at a deal, denounced the latest proposals as “a capitulation” and “a disaster for the national security of the State of Israel.”
Fighting has been particularly fierce in the past few months in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping and Palestinians accuse Israel of permanently depopulating the buffer zone.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the armed wing of Hamas, said that the fighters of the group attacked the Israeli forces in the region during the last 72 hours, as a result of which at least 10 soldiers were killed and dozens of soldiers were wounded. Israel confirmed that four of its soldiers were killed on Saturday.
English