Officials announced today that American and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight in brokering a ceasefire and the release of hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip, but no deal has yet been reached. Three officials close to the talks process said progress has been made and that the coming days will be critical to ending the 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East.
According to officials involved in the negotiation process between Israel and Hamas, a proposed agreement is already on the table and representatives of both sides have sent the draft proposal to their leaders for final approval.
One source said the next 24 hours would be critical, while other officials said despite overnight progress, several more days were needed to reach an agreement.
Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, confirmed that the negotiations were moving in the right direction.
"Progress has been made; we see more progress in the negotiations. Israel wants a deal to release the hostages and is working with American friends to get them. We will soon understand if the other side also wants such a thing", declared Minister Saar.
Officials interviewed by The Associated Press said Qatari mediators are pressuring Hamas to accept the deal, while Steve Witkoff, President-elect Donald Trump's envoy, who recently joined the negotiations and is staying in the region in recent days, it is putting pressure on the Israelis.
Mediators, according to agency sources, are aiming to reach a deal before Mr. Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, and one of them said he believed that deadline could be met.
Current US President Joe Biden, who also hopes to reach an agreement before the end of his term, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about negotiations on Sunday.
A Hamas official said a number of contentious issues remain to be resolved, including Israel's commitment to ending the war, details about the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
President Biden's administration, along with Egypt and Qatar, has been engaged for more than a year to broker a deal that would end the bloody war in Gaza and allow the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. of 2023, during the attack of Palestinian militants on Israeli settlements, which was the trigger for the start of the war.
But the sides remain divided over the details of the planned hostage swap for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as well as the nature of the ceasefire itself. Hamas says it will not release the hostages without a full end to the war, while Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to continue the military campaign until what he calls "total victory" over Hamas.
For now, discussions are focused on a phased ceasefire. Mr Netanyahu agreed to the first phase – a partial release of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire of several weeks, with the possibility that a longer-term ceasefire could be negotiated during this period. Hamas insists on a full Israeli withdrawal and an end to the war, and hopes that the first phase will lead to that outcome.
In Tel Aviv, the families of the 100 hostages protested again over the weekend to pressure Israeli leaders to reach a deal that would allow their loved ones to return home.
In Gaza, where the Israeli military campaign has killed 46,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, Palestinians show reservations about the possibility of an agreement, after several failed attempts this year./ VOA (A2 Televizion)
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