Gaza ceasefire appears closer as White House puts focus on 'coming hours'
Phased ceasefire — capping over a year of start-and-stop talks — could halt fighting in war-torn Gaza
Negotiators were close to reaching the final details of a ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday after marathon talks in Qatar, with the U.S. and Egyptian leaders promising to stay in close contact about a deal over the coming hours.
Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. as well as Israel and Hamas said an agreement for a truce in the besieged enclave and release of hostages was closer than ever. More than eight hours of talks in Doha had further fuelled optimism.
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari earlier told a news conference that both sides were presented with a text and talks on the last details were under way.
But a senior Hamas official told Reuters late Tuesday that the Palestinian group had not delivered its response yet because it was still waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration has been taking part alongside an envoy of president-elect Donald Trump, said a deal was close.
Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi talked about progress in the negotiations on Tuesday.
"Both leaders committed to remain in close co-ordination directly and through their teams over the coming hours," the White House said in a statement after the leaders' telephone call.
The two presidents "emphasized the urgent need for a deal to be implemented."
Hamas said the talks had reached the final steps and it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal.
An Israeli official said talks had reached a critical phase although some details needed to be worked out: "We are close, we are not there yet."
Visiting Rome, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday he believed a majority of Israel's coalition government would support a Gaza deal if one is finally agreed upon, despite vocal opposition from hardline nationalist parties in the coalition.
Militant group Islamic Jihad, which is separate from Hamas and also holds hostages in Gaza, said it was sending a senior delegation that would arrive in Doha on Tuesday night to take part in final arrangements for a ceasefire deal.
Phased ceasefire on the table
If successful, the phased ceasefire — capping over a year of start-and-stop talks — could halt fighting that has left Gaza in ruins, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, made most of Gaza's population homeless and is still killing dozens every day.
That in turn could ease tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has fuelled conflict in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran.
Israel would recover around 100 remaining hostages and bodies from among those captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that precipitated the war. In return it would free Palestinian detainees.
An Israeli official said the deal's first stage would see the release of 33 hostages, including children, women including 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.
Blinken heckled by protesters
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who gave a speech in Washington outlining a vision for governing the Palestinian territories after the war, said it was up to Hamas to accept a deal that was already set for implementation.
Blinken said the outgoing Biden administration will hand over to Trump's team a plan for the post-war management of Gaza, including details of an interim security mission including international forces and Palestinians.
His remarks were interrupted three times by protesters, who echoed accusations that the Biden administration was complicit in crimes committed by Israel in the war. Blinken has denied Israel's actions amount to genocide and says he has pushed Israel to do more to protect civilians and to facilitate humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"You will forever be known as bloody Blinken, secretary of genocide," one protester shouted before being led out of the event.
Blinken remained calm, telling one heckler: "I respect your views. Please allow me to share mine," before resuming his remarks.
Sticking points
Both sides have been committed in principle for months to the prospect of a ceasefire accompanied by a swap of remaining hostages for detainees. But all previous talks foundered over the steps that would follow, with Hamas rejecting any deal that stopped short of bringing a permanent end to the war, while Israel said it would not end the war until Hamas is dismantled.
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed across its borders on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.
Only one ceasefire has been held so far, lasting for a single week in November 2023, during which around half of the hostages, including most women, children and foreign labourers, were freed in return for Palestinian detainees.
Fighting rages on in Gaza
Meanwhile, fighting has continued, 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. Nightly Israeli strikes have continued across the enclave.
Gaza health officials said on Tuesday that Israeli strikes killed at least 27 Palestinians in the past day, including one Gazan journalist. One of those attacks killed 10 people in a house in Khan Younis. Another strike killed nine people in a tent encampment in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.
The Israeli military made no immediate comment.
Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration is now widely seen as a de facto deadline for a ceasefire agreement. Trump has said there would be "hell to pay" unless hostages held by Hamas are freed before he takes office, while Biden has also called for a final push for a deal before he leaves office.
Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table, which made the presence of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff alongside Biden administration officials "critical."