By Andrew Mills and Nidal al-Mughrabi
DOHA/CAIRO (Reuters) -Mediator Qatar gave Israel and Hamas a closing draft of a deal to finish the conflict in Gaza on Monday, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, an official briefed on the negotiations advised Reuters.
The official stated the textual content for a ceasefire and the discharge of hostages was hammered out at talks in Doha which included the chiefs of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Wager spy companies and Qatar’s prime minister as properly Steve Witkoff, who will grow to be U.S. envoy when Trump takes workplace subsequent week. Officers from the outgoing U.S. administration are additionally thought to have participated.
“The following 24 hours might be pivotal to reaching the deal,” the official stated.
Israel’s Kan radio, citing an Israeli official, reported on Monday that Israeli and Hamas delegations in Qatar had acquired a draft and that the Israeli delegation had briefed Israel’s leaders. Israel, Hamas and the overseas ministry of Qatar didn’t reply to requests for affirmation or remark.
Officers on either side, whereas stopping wanting confirming {that a} closing draft had been reached, described progress on the talks.
A senior Israeli official stated a deal could possibly be sealed inside a couple of days if Hamas replies to a proposal. A Palestinian official near the talks stated data from Doha was “very promising”, including: “Gaps had been being narrowed and there’s a huge push towards an settlement if all goes properly to the top.”
America, Qatar and Egypt have labored for greater than a 12 months on talks to finish the conflict in Gaza, up to now fruitlessly.
HELL TO PAY
Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration is now extensively seen within the area as a de facto deadline. The president-elect has stated there can be “hell to pay” except hostages held by Hamas are freed earlier than he takes workplace, whereas outgoing President Joe Biden has additionally pushed laborious for a deal earlier than he leaves.
The official stated talks went till the early hours of Monday, with Witkoff pushing the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pushing Hamas officers to finalise an settlement.
The pinnacle of Egypt’s common intelligence company Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was additionally within the Qatari capital as a part of the talks, the official stated.
Trump envoy Witkoff has travelled to Qatar and Israel a number of occasions since late November. He was in Doha on Friday and travelled to Israel to satisfy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday earlier than returning to Doha.
Biden additionally spoke on Sunday by cellphone with Netanyahu, stressing “the quick want for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian support enabled by a stoppage within the combating underneath the deal,” the White Home stated.
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed throughout its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 individuals and taking greater than 250 hostages, in line with Israeli tallies.
Since then, greater than 46,000 individuals have been killed in Gaza, in line with Palestinian well being officers, with a lot of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian disaster, and most of its inhabitants displaced.
Either side have agreed for months broadly on the precept of halting the combating in return for the discharge of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian detainees held by Israel. Nonetheless, Hamas has insisted that the deal should result in a everlasting finish to the conflict and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, whereas Israel has stated it is not going to finish the conflict till Hamas is dismantled.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline nationalist who has opposed earlier makes an attempt to succeed in a deal, denounced the newest proposals as a “give up” and a “disaster for the nationwide safety of the state of Israel”.
