CAIRO (AP) — American and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight against brokers a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but an agreement has not yet been reached, officials said Monday.
Three officials admitted it progress has been made and said the coming days would be crucial to ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the calls.
One of the three officials and a Hamas official said there were still a number of obstacles to clear. On several occasions over the past year, US officials have said they were on the verge of reaching an agreement, only for the conversations to stop.
A person familiar with the talks said there had been a breakthrough overnight and a proposed deal was on the table. Israeli and Hamas negotiators will now take it back to their leaders for final approval, the person said.
The person said mediators from the Gulf country of Qatar had put renewed pressure on Hamas to accept the deal, while US President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressed the Israelis. Witkoff recently joined the negotiations and has been in the region for the past few days.
The person said the mediators had handed over the draft deal to both sides and the next 24 hours would be crucial.
An Egyptian official said good progress had been made overnight but that it was likely to take a few more days and that the parties were aiming for an agreement before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. A third official said the talks were in a good place, but had not been concluded. That official also deemed a deal possible before the inauguration.
However, a Hamas official said a number of contentious issues still needed to be resolved, including an Israeli commitment to end the war and details of the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the exchange of hostages and prisoners. The official was not authorized to brief the media and spoke anonymously.
The Egyptian official confirmed that these issues were still being discussed.
Months of negotiations have repeatedly stalled
The Biden administration, along with Egypt and Qatar, has spent more than a year trying to broker a deal to end the deadliest war ever fought between Israelis and Palestinians and secure the release of scores of hostages captured in Hamas’s assault on southern Israel in October. 7, 2023, which triggered the conflict.
But the sides have been divided over the details of the planned hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as well as the nature of the ceasefire itself. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining prisoners without an end to the war, while Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the campaign until “total victory” over the militant group.
A phased ceasefire is now being discussed. Netanyahu has repeatedly signaled that he is only committed to the first phase, a partial release of the hostages in exchange for a week-long halt in the fighting. The possibility of a lasting ceasefire and other issues would be negotiated after the first phase was launched. Hamas has called for a full withdrawal and a complete end to the war, and hopes that this first phase will lead to that outcome.
A deal could weaken Netanyahu’s coalition, which includes two far-right factions that have threatened to quit the government if Israel makes too many concessions. Members of the opposition have pledged to give Netanyahu the support he needs to approve a hostage release, but hardline anger could be a source of instability down the road.
Netanyahu hopes that the prospect of a Trump administration — which includes allies to the settler movement in the West Bank — will persuade his partners to remain in government.
US President Joe Biden, who hopes to finalize a deal before leaving office next week, spoke to Netanyahu about the talks on Sunday.
The head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service, David Barnea, and Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, were both in the Qatari capital of Doha. Barnea’s presence meant that high-level Israeli officials who would have to sign off on any deal are once again involved in the talks.
McGurk has been working on the final details of a text to be presented to both sides, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” But he said he would not predict whether a deal could be reached by Jan. 20.
“We are very, very close,” he said. “Still, being very close means we’re far, because until you actually cross the finish line, we’re not there.”
Palestinians and the families of the hostages hope for an agreement
Only one brief truce has been achieved during the war, and that was during the first weeks of fighting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week a deal was “very close” and he hoped to finalize it before handing diplomacy over to the incoming Trump administration.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestiniansthe majority women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose count does not provide a breakdown between fighters and civilians. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted around 250 others in the attack that ignited the war.
Families of the approximately 100 hostages still being held in Gaza, Netanyahu is pushing to reach an agreement to bring his loved ones home. Israelis rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv, with pictures of the hostages on display.
In Gaza, Palestinians dampened their hopes for an end to Israel’s campaign, which has devastated much of the territory and driven about 90% of its 2.3 million people from their homes.
“We hear that there are negotiations going on every day, but we don’t see anything,” said Mazen Hammad, a resident of the southern city of Khan Younis. “When we see it on the ground, then we think there is a truce.”
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Josef Federman reported from Jerusalem. Abby Sewell contributed to this report from Beirut.
