Mediators handed Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement to end the war in Gaza on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks that included envoys of both U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.
The text of the ceasefire and the release of the hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides during talks in Doha attended by the heads of Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies and the Qatari prime minister, the official said.
The officials said the talks included Steve Witkoff, who will become U.S. envoy when Trump returns to the presidency next week. An American source said the outgoing Biden administration's envoy, Brett McGurk, was also there.
“The next 24 hours will be crucial to reaching an agreement,” the official said, characterizing the project as the result of a breakthrough reached early Monday morning.
Israel's Kan Radio, quoting an Israeli official, reported on Monday that the Israeli and Hamas delegations in Qatar had received the draft bill and that the Israeli delegation had informed Israeli leaders. Israel, Hamas and Qatar's foreign ministry did not respond to requests for confirmation or comment.
Officials from both sides, while not confirming that a final design had been reached, described progress in the talks.
A senior Israeli official said an agreement could be reached within days if Hamas responds to the proposal. A Palestinian official close to the talks said the information from Doha was “very promising” and added: “The lists are shrinking and there is a lot of pressure to reach an agreement if all goes well by the end.”
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been in talks for over a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
Trump's deadline is approaching
The two sides have for months agreed in principle to stop fighting in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. However, Hamas has always insisted that the agreement must lead to a permanent end to the war and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has insisted that it will not end the war until Hamas is disbanded.
Trump's inauguration on January 20 is now widely seen in the region as a de facto deadline. The president-elect has said there will be “hell” to pay if hostages held by Hamas are not released before he takes office, while outgoing President Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leaves the country.
The official said talks continued into the early morning hours Monday, with Witkoff pressing the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pressing Hamas officials to finalize the agreement.
Talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire and the release of hostages between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Cairo, with sources close to the negotiations saying an agreement could be signed in the coming days. Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip express hope that this round of talks will end the war and allow life to resume.
The official said the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, was also in the Qatari capital as part of the talks.
Since late November, Trump envoy Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel several times. He was in Doha on Friday and before returning to Doha, he traveled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday.
Biden also spoke by phone with Netanyahu on Sunday, emphasizing “the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the hostages along with the surge in humanitarian aid made possible by the cessation of fighting under the agreement,” the White House said.
5 people died in an Israeli attack on a school shelter
On Monday, medics said bloodshed continued in the Gaza Strip and at least 21 people were killed in Israeli military attacks. This includes five people killed in an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza City that was sheltering displaced families.
According to Israeli data, Israel launched the attack in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed its border in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
According to Palestinian health officials, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, with much of the enclave destroyed and most of its population displaced.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hard-line nationalist who has opposed previous attempts to reach an agreement, condemned the latest proposals as a “capitulation” and a “disaster for the national security of the State of Israel.”
Fighting has been particularly intense over the past few months in the northern tip of Gaza, where Israel says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping and Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate the buffer zone.
Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said the group's fighters attacked Israeli forces in the area, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding dozens of others in the past 72 hours. Israel confirmed on Saturday that four soldiers had been killed.