A round of Gaza ceasefire talks will take place on Tuesday morning in Doha, Qatar, to finalize remaining details related to the deal, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Monday.
An agreement to end the Gaza war is “closer than ever before,” the official said, adding that US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, outgoing Biden administration envoy Brett McGurk, Israel Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet were expected to attend. The head of Ronen Bar was expected to be present.
Earlier Monday, mediators presented Israel and Hamas with a final draft of the deal, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a “breakthrough” was reached at midnight in talks involving envoys from Biden and Trump.
The text for a ceasefire and the release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha.
“The next 24 hours will be crucial to reach the agreement,” the official said.
What did Israeli officials say to Hamas?
Officials from both sides did not confirm that there was a final draft but described the progress of the talks but did not provide details on the draft agreement.
“Negotiations on some key issues have made progress and we are working to finalize the remaining issues soon,” a Hamas official told Reuters on Monday, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said negotiations would be coordinated between Biden’s and Trump’s teams.
“There is progress, it looks much better than before,” Saar said at a press conference on Monday.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been working on talks to end the war in Gaza for more than a year.
In Cairo, an Egyptian security official told Reuters that the draft sent to the two warring parties did not contain the final agreement but was “aimed at resolving outstanding issues that had hampered previous negotiations.”
Talks to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Cairo, and sources close to the negotiations say an agreement could be signed in the coming days. Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip hope this round of talks will lead to an end to the war so that life can resume.
What do both sides largely agree on?
The two sides have largely agreed for months to stop fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. However, Hamas has always insisted that the deal must lead to a permanent end to the war and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has said it will not end the war until Hamas is crushed.
Trump’s inauguration on January 20 is now widely seen as the de facto deadline in the region. The president-elect has said there would be “hell to pay” if hostages held by Hamas were not released before he takes office, while outgoing President Biden has also pushed forcefully for a deal before he leaves office.
The official said talks continued into the early hours of Monday, with Witkoff urging the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani urging Hamas officials to finalize a deal.
Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was also in the Qatari capital as part of the talks, the official said.
Since the end of November, Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel several times. He was in Doha on Friday and traveled to Israel on Saturday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before returning to Doha.
Biden also spoke to Netanyahu by telephone on Sunday, emphasizing “the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the hostages, with a surge in humanitarian assistance made possible by a cessation of fighting under the agreement,” the White House said.
Attacks are increasing in the north of the Gaza Strip, killing 50 people
The bloodshed in Gaza continued on Monday. CBC’s videographer in Gaza said Israeli bombings in northern Gaza have intensified, with several airstrikes killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
Separately, in Gaza City, five people were killed in an Israeli attack on a Gaza City school housing displaced families.
In a press release on Sunday, Save the Children sounded the alarm about continued attacks on schools in Gaza where Palestinian families seek refuge – recording a total of five attacks on schools by Israel in the previous week.
“Not only have (children) missed more than a year of school – the classrooms that once provided a safe space to learn, play and develop have become death traps.” said Jeremy Stoner, Middle East regional director at Save the Children.
“A permanent ceasefire is sorely overdue – every day without it endangers the future of more children.”
Israel launched its attack in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants crossed its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, much of the enclave has been devastated and most of the population displaced, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline nationalist who rejected previous attempts to reach an agreement, called the latest proposals a “capitulation” and a “disaster for the national security of the State of Israel.”
Things have been particularly intense in recent months on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, where Israel says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping and Palestinians accuse Israel of wanting to permanently depopulate a buffer zone.
Hamas’ armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said the group’s fighters had attacked Israeli forces in the area, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding dozens more in the past 72 hours. Israel confirmed on Saturday that four soldiers had been killed.
