Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal ‘on the brink of fruition’

Washington: US President Joe Biden said a deal that will secure the release of hostages and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza was on the brink of coming to fruition, adding that his administration was working urgently to close the agreement.

“The deal ... would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started,” Biden said in a speech to highlight his foreign policy achievements before leaving office.

US President Joe Biden says Israel and Hamas are close to signing a ceasefire deal.Credit: AP

Shortly before Biden’s comment, the Hamas delegation in Doha said the ceasefire talks were progressing well with the group dealing with developments positively, it said in a statement following a meeting with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

The London Telegraph, citing confidential sources, said there had been a “breakthrough” following talks between Qatar’s prime minister, Israel’s intelligence chiefs and US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy.

“We are not sure if it is hours or days or more,” one Israeli source told The Telegraph, as the White House said negotiators were “on the cusp” of an agreement. The paper said it had learnt “Israel is willing to withdraw its troops from Gaza when all hostages have been released under a ceasefire deal with Hamas”.

A US official briefed on the talks, who did not want to be otherwise identified, said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at the talks, which included the chiefs of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies.

Another round of talks is planned in Doha on Tuesday evening (AEDT) to finalise remaining details, with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Biden’s envoy, Brett McGurk, expected to continue to attend, the official said.

An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 hostages as part of the deal.

Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the negotiations were at a “pivotal” point, with gaps between two sides slowly getting removed. “I think there is a good chance we can close this ... the parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sides were “closer than we’ve ever been” to a deal, and the ball was in Hamas’ court.

An Israeli military car drives past a protective wall near the border with Gaza Strip on Monday.Credit: AP

“We are very hopeful that we get it over the finish line, finally, after all this time,” Blinken told MSNBC, adding that the proposed deal was based on a framework Biden put out in May.

Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table, so Witkoff’s participation had been “critical”.

Israel’s Kan radio, citing an Israeli official, reported the Israeli delegation had briefed the country’s leaders. Israel, Hamas and the Foreign Ministry of Qatar did not respond to requests for confirmation or comment.

Officials on both sides, while stopping short of confirming that a final draft had been reached, reported progress.

The view from southern Israel of destroyed buildings inside the Gaza Strip on Monday.Credit: AP

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters: “There is progress, it looks much better than previously. I want to thank our American friends for the huge efforts they are investing to secure a hostage deal.”

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have worked for more than a year on talks to end the war in Gaza.

In Cairo, an Egyptian security official told Reuters the draft sent to the two warring sides did not comprise the final agreement but “aims to resolve outstanding issues that had hindered previous negotiations”.

Sullivan said Biden would soon speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about the negotiations.

‘Hell to pay’

Israel’s Channel 12 said Israeli government institutions had been told to prepare for the intake of weak and sick hostages.

The warring sides have agreed for months broadly on the principle of halting the fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian detainees held by Israel. But Hamas has always insisted a deal must lead to a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has said it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled.

Trump’s January 20 inauguration is now widely seen as a de facto deadline. Trump has said there would be “hell to pay” unless hostages held by Hamas are freed before he takes office, while Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leaves.

Steve Witkoff, pictured at a Trump rally last year, is the president-elect’s Middle East envoy.Credit: AP

The official who first disclosed the draft said talks went on until 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 officials to finalise an agreement.

The head of Egypt’s general intelligence agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, was also in Doha for the talks. Rashad left Doha on Monday, but a source familiar with the talks said an intelligence delegation stayed behind to play an active role.

Trump envoy Witkoff has travelled to Qatar and Israel several times since November. He was in Doha on Friday and travelled to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday before returning to Doha.

Biden also spoke on Sunday by phone with Netanyahu, stressing “the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal”, the White House said.

Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most of its population displaced.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his Religious Zionism party, a hardline nationalist party that has opposed previous attempts at a deal, said all its members would oppose a deal that didn’t achieve Hamas’ “destruction” and the latest proposal endangered Israel’s national security.

Bloodshed continued in Gaza on Monday. Residents reported a series of explosions in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip that targeted homes and roads. Palestinian health officials said at least 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in Israeli military strikes in the region on Monday.

The Israeli military said five soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Gaza, bringing to nine the number of its troops killed since Saturday.

Reuters

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