KEY POINTS
- Israel and Hamas reach a tentative deal for a six-week ceasefire.
- The agreement includes the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
- Negotiations were brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
- Over 46,700 Palestinians have been killed during 15 months of Israeli bombardment.
- Israel continues relentless bombardment despite ceasefire talks.
DOHA, Qatar: Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, Reuters news agency reported citing an official briefed on the deal.
The deal, still not officially announced yet, outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
The agreement follows months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and came just ahead of the January 20 inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump.
Earlier today, AFP reported, citing sources close to the talks, that Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have approved a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal.
The resistance factions reached an agreement on the terms of the ceasefire and informed the mediators, who include representatives from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, of their approval.
“The resistance factions reached an agreement among themselves and informed the mediators of their approval of the (prisoner) exchange deal and ceasefire,” one of the sources told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
A second Palestinian source confirmed the deal’s approval, further suggesting that a formal announcement may soon follow. However, despite these reports, key questions remain regarding Hamas’ formal written approval of the deal.
Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,707 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, and left the besieged coastal enclave a wasteland of rubble, with hundreds of thousands surviving the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.
As his inauguration approached, Trump repeated his demand that a deal be done swiftly, warning repeatedly that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released. His Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff worked with President Joe Biden’s team to push the deal over the line.
The conflict spread across the Middle East, with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. The deal comes after Israel assassinated the top leaders of Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes kill 62 in Gaza
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that 62 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall war death toll to 46,707.
The ministry said at least 110,265 people have been wounded in more than 15 months of Israeli bombardment campaign.
Mediators were making a final push Wednesday to seal a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, after a Qatari official involved in the talks expressed hope an agreement could be reached “very soon”.
US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a phone call Tuesday that both Israel and Hamas needed to show flexibility to get a deal over the line, according to a statement from Sisi’s office.
Proposed ceasefire deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top security officials late Tuesday to discuss the deal, his office said, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “ball is now in Hamas’s court”.
“If Hamas accepts, the deal is ready to be concluded and implemented,” said Blinken.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that negotiations were in their “final stages” and mediators were hopeful they would lead “very soon to an agreement”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there was a “true willingness from our side to reach an agreement”.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the first phase of a deal would see 33 Israeli hostages freed, while two Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
A source close to Hamas said that the initial hostage release would be “in batches, starting with children and women”.
Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the truce’s 16th day, an Israeli official said, with media reports saying it would see the release of the remaining captives.
Under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza during the first phase, according to Israeli media.
Hamas said it hoped for a “clear and comprehensive agreement”, adding it had informed other Palestinian factions of the “progress made”.
An official from Palestinian Islamic Jihad said a delegation had reached Qatar to join the discussions.
Israeli strikes
Among the sticking points in talks have been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.
The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid.
Netanyahu has rejected a full withdrawal from Gaza and opposed any post-war role for Hamas in the territory.
Blinken said Tuesday Israel would ultimately “have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed” Palestinian Authority, and embrace a “path toward forming an independent Palestinian state”.
While efforts continued towards a truce, Israeli forces pounded various areas across Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that strikes across the territory killed at least 24 people including a seven-year-old boy.
