Gaza ceasefire deal close after 'breakthrough' in Doha
Negotiators will meet in Doha on Tuesday seeking to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza after U.S. President Joe Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he has championed was on 'the brink' of coming to fruition.
Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight 'breakthrough' in talks attended by envoys of both the outgoing U.S. president and President-elect Donald Trump. Advertisement · Scroll to continue
The official briefed on the talks, who did not want to be identified, said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha.
'I think there is a good chance we can close this ... the parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal,' Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ball was in Hamas' court. Hamas said it was keen to reach a deal.
An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 hostages as part of the deal. Ninety-eight hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
'The negotiation over some core issues made progress and we are working to conclude what remains soon,' a Hamas official said.
Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table so the attendance at the ceasefire talks of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with Biden's envoy Brett McGurk, has been 'critical.'
An Israeli official who briefed reporters on the proposed deal said its first stage would see 33 hostages set free, including children, women, some of whom are female soldiers, men above 50, and the wounded and sick.
On the 16th day of the ceasefire, negotiations would start on a second stage during which the remaining living hostages - male soldiers and men of military age - would be released and the bodies of dead hostages returned.
The deal would see a phased troop withdrawal, with Israeli forces remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages. There would be security arrangements in the Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of Gaza, with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed back, with a mechanism to ensure no weapons are moved there. Israeli troops will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza. Reuters
Negotiators will meet in Doha on Tuesday seeking to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza after U.S. President Joe Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he has championed was on 'the brink' of coming to fruition.
Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight 'breakthrough' in talks attended by envoys of both the outgoing U.S. president and President-elect Donald Trump. Advertisement · Scroll to continue
The official briefed on the talks, who did not want to be identified, said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha.
'I think there is a good chance we can close this ... the parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal,' Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ball was in Hamas' court. Hamas said it was keen to reach a deal.
An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 hostages as part of the deal. Ninety-eight hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
'The negotiation over some core issues made progress and we are working to conclude what remains soon,' a Hamas official said.
Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table so the attendance at the ceasefire talks of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with Biden's envoy Brett McGurk, has been 'critical.'
An Israeli official who briefed reporters on the proposed deal said its first stage would see 33 hostages set free, including children, women, some of whom are female soldiers, men above 50, and the wounded and sick.
On the 16th day of the ceasefire, negotiations would start on a second stage during which the remaining living hostages - male soldiers and men of military age - would be released and the bodies of dead hostages returned.
The deal would see a phased troop withdrawal, with Israeli forces remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages. There would be security arrangements in the Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of Gaza, with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed back, with a mechanism to ensure no weapons are moved there. Israeli troops will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza. Reuters
Negotiators will meet in Doha on Tuesday seeking to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza after U.S. President Joe Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he has championed was on 'the brink' of coming to fruition.
Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight 'breakthrough' in talks attended by envoys of both the outgoing U.S. president and President-elect Donald Trump. Advertisement · Scroll to continue
The official briefed on the talks, who did not want to be identified, said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha.
'I think there is a good chance we can close this ... the parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal,' Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ball was in Hamas' court. Hamas said it was keen to reach a deal.
An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 hostages as part of the deal. Ninety-eight hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
'The negotiation over some core issues made progress and we are working to conclude what remains soon,' a Hamas official said.
Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table so the attendance at the ceasefire talks of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with Biden's envoy Brett McGurk, has been 'critical.'
An Israeli official who briefed reporters on the proposed deal said its first stage would see 33 hostages set free, including children, women, some of whom are female soldiers, men above 50, and the wounded and sick.
On the 16th day of the ceasefire, negotiations would start on a second stage during which the remaining living hostages - male soldiers and men of military age - would be released and the bodies of dead hostages returned.
The deal would see a phased troop withdrawal, with Israeli forces remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages. There would be security arrangements in the Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of Gaza, with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed back, with a mechanism to ensure no weapons are moved there. Israeli troops will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza. Reuters
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Gaza ceasefire deal close after 'breakthrough' in Doha
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