Gaza cease-fire deal at 'closest point', mediator says

DOHA/CAIRO — Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at the "closest point" yet to agreeing on a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a weekly briefing on Tuesday that the ongoing negotiations are positive and productive, while declining to get into the details of the sensitive talks.

Qatar has been a key mediator with Hamas in over a year of indirect talks and is currently hosting the negotiations.

On Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said a "breakthrough" was made in talks attended by envoys of both US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.

Hamas said the talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped the talks in Doha would lead to a "clear and comprehensive agreement".

Meanwhile, according to two officials involved in the talks on Tuesday, Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for the cease-fire and the release of dozens of hostages.

An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized.

If successful, the cease-fire deal would cap over a year of stop-start talks and lead to the biggest release of Israeli hostages since the early days of the conflict, when Hamas freed about half of its prisoners in exchange for 240 Palestinian detainees held by Israel.

That in turn could ease tensions across the wider Middle East, where the conflict has fuelled conflict in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out conflict between Israel and Iran.

An Israeli official said the deal's first stage would see the release of 33 hostages, including children, some female soldiers, men above 50, and the wounded and sick. Israel would gradually and partially withdraw some of its forces.

The Palestinian source said Israel would free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase, which would last for 60 days.

Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Fighting has meanwhile raged on, focused in recent months on Gaza's northern edge where Israel says its forces are trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping and Palestinians say the Israelis are trying to permanently depopulate a buffer zone.

Health officials in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that Israeli strikes killed at least 27 Palestinians in the past day, including one journalist.