Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft agreement to end fighting in the Gaza Strip and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, as a first step toward ending the 15-month war.
A week before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office from President Joe Biden, officials said a breakthrough had been made in talks in Doha and an agreement could be near.
However, many details of implementing a ceasefire have yet to be agreed upon, and officials from all sides said no agreement had yet been reached.
Here are the key points of the draft, according to an Israeli and a Palestinian official. Hamas has not released any details.
The three-phase deal begins with the release of 33 hostages
The three-stage deal – based on a framework set by Biden and approved by the United Nations Security Council – would begin with the release of 33 hostages over a six-week period.
This includes women, children, older adults and wounded civilians in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian women and children detained by Israel.
Israel believes most are still alive, but has not received official confirmation from Hamas.
- The first phase would last 42 days, although the Israeli official said the exact duration had not yet been determined. The Palestinian official said it would take 60 days.
- If it progresses as planned, on the 16th day after the agreement enters into force, negotiations would begin in a second phase, with the aim of ensuring the return of the remaining living hostages – male soldiers and young civilians – and the return of the bodies of dead hostages.
- In exchange for the hostages, Israel will free a significant number of Palestinian prisoners from its prisons, including some serving long sentences for deadly attacks. However, the exact number depends on how many hostages are still alive. The Israeli official said the number would be “many hundreds,” while the Palestinian official said it would be more than 1,000.
- It has not yet been decided where the prisoners will be sent, but people convicted of murder or fatal attacks would not be released to the West Bank.
- Anyone involved in the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 would not be released.
Israeli troops are expected to withdraw towards the border
Israel will not fully withdraw its troops until all hostages are returned, but there will be a gradual withdrawal, with Israeli forces remaining in the border area to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
- There would be security arrangements for the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first days of the deal.
- Unarmed residents of northern Gaza would be allowed to return, with a mechanism in place to ensure that weapons are not brought there. Israeli troops will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza.
- The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is gradually becoming operational, allowing the passage of sick and humanitarian cases from the enclave for treatment.
In the second phase, Hamas would release the remaining living prisoners, mostly male soldiers, in exchange for more prisoners and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza, according to the draft deal.
Further details of the second phase must still be negotiated during the first.
These details remain difficult to resolve – and the agreement contains no written guarantees that the ceasefire will last until an agreement is reached.
This means that Israel could resume its military operations after the end of the first phase.
Increasing the flow of aid
Humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip would increase significantly as international organizations, including the United Nations, believe the population is facing a serious humanitarian crisis.
Israel is allowing aid into the enclave, but there have been disputes over the amount allowed into the enclave as well as the amount reaching people in need, with looting by criminal gangs a growing problem.
The question of who will control Gaza
Who will govern Gaza after the war is one of the unknowns in the negotiations. It appears that the issue was not included in the proposal in the current round of negotiations due to its complexity and the likelihood that it would hold up a limited agreement.
Israel has said it will not end the war and will leave Hamas in power. It also opposed the administration of the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Authority, the Western-backed organization founded three decades ago under the interim Oslo peace accord that exercises limited sovereignty in the occupied West Bank.
Negotiators are meeting in Qatar hoping to finalize details of a plan to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages, after U.S. President Joe Biden and Qatari officials suggested a deal was imminent.
Israel has also said from the start of its military operation in Gaza that it would retain security control of the enclave after fighting ends.
The international community has said Gaza must be ruled by Palestinians, but efforts to find alternatives to the main factions in civil society or clan leaders have proven largely unsuccessful.
However, there have been talks between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States about a provisional government to govern Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority can take over.
