Negotiators will meet in Doha today to finalize details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden said the ceasefire and hostage release he has championed was on the verge of being achieved.
Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, Reuters reports, after a "breakthrough" at midnight in talks involving envoys from the outgoing US president and President-elect Donald Trump.
"The agreement ... would release hostages, stop the fighting, guarantee security for Israel and allow us to significantly increase humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who have suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started," Biden said in a speech on Monday, highlighting his achievements in foreign policy., writes A2 CNN.
During the first phase of the ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages, two Israeli officials said.
Hamas and its allies still hold 94 of the 251 hostages taken by Israel, and according to the Israeli government, 34 of them are dead.
If successful, the ceasefire agreement would cap over a year of start-and-stop talks and lead to the largest release of Israeli hostages since the early days of the conflict, when Hamas released about half of its prisoners in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, A2 CNN reports.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ball was in Hamas' court. He will present a post-war plan for Gaza on Tuesday, Axios reported.
Hamas said it was keen to reach a deal to end the fighting, which has rocked the Middle East.
Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters attacked in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli reports.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave destroyed and most of its population displaced.
The warring parties have agreed for months on the principle of a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. But Hamas has always insisted that a 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 dismantled. (A2 Televizion)
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