 "Families of Israel's hostages hold a demonstration to call upon their government to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: AFP)")
Israel and Hamas on Tuesday sat down for another round of talks in Qatar to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would see the release of hostages. Mediator Qatar has said that the negotiations in the truce deal were in their “final stages”.
“We do believe that we are at the final stages… certainly we are hopeful that this would lead very soon to an agreement,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference, adding that “until there is an announcement… we shouldn’t be over-excited about what’s happening right now”.
It added that the obstacles that were delaying the ceasefire deal have been “resolved” in the past few weeks. Hamas said the talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal. A Palestinian source close to the talks told Reuters he expected the deal to be finalised on Tuesday if “all goes well”.
The renewed talks between the two warring parties in the presence of mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US are a sign that the negotiations are making real progress after months of impasse and continued Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.
Truce drafts sent to Hamas and Israel
Meanwhile, Qatar has handed over drafts of a possible ceasefire agreement to both Hamas and Israel, Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, adding that this is the closest point to a deal over the past months.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk have both attended the talks hosted by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Israel is represented by David Barnea, director of spy service Mossad, and Ronen Bar, director of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
Hamas accepts draft
Two officials have told The Associated Press that the Palestinian terror group has accepted the draft ceasefire agreement.
The publication obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized. The plan would need to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final approval.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhat would the ceasefire entail?
If successful, the phased ceasefire - capping over a year of start-and-stop talks - could halt fighting that has left Gaza in ruins, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, made most of Gaza’s population homeless and is still killing dozens a day.
Israel would recover hostages from among around 100 who still remain in captivity from the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that precipitated the war, in return for freeing Palestinian detainees.
With inputs from agencies