Qatar said Israel and Hamas are close to reaching an agreement on a ceasefire

Israel and Hamas are “on the verge” of agreeing to declare a ceasefire in Gaza and release hostages held there, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Tuesday, raising hopes of some temporary pause in violence. strength after more than 15 months of stress. war.

“It’s right on the brink, it’s closer than ever,” Mr. Blinken said at an Atlantic Council event in Washington. “But right now as we sit here, we wait for the final word from Hamas about accepting it. And until we receive that word, we will remain on the brink.”

Neither Israeli nor Hamas officials have publicly confirmed their position on the proposed ceasefire, although Blinken suggested that Israel had joined the deal and that its fate now belonged to Hamas.

US officials have previously made optimistic comments about ceasefire negotiations, but the negotiations have continuously broken down. reprimand each other.

But in recent weeks, officials familiar with the negotiations have expressed growing hope for a deal.

Officials in both the Israeli and Hamas governments have suggested they are ready to move forward if the other side agrees. On Monday, a Hamas official said a deal could take place in the coming days as long as Israel does not suddenly change its position. On Tuesday, an Israeli official said Israel was ready to finalize the deal and was waiting for Hamas to make a decision.

Some officials also say the upcoming deadline is helping to close the gap: the end of President Biden’s term and the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump on January 20.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters on Tuesday that mediators had “sought to minimize a lot of disagreements between the two sides.” The talks are focused on “the final details to reach an agreement,” he said.

However, mediators including Qatari, Egyptian, US and other officials have warned that even significant progress could be dashed at the last minute.

“We believe we are in the final stages, but until we have an announcement – ​​there will be no announcement,” Mr. al-Ansari said, adding that there was no Immediate timeline for signing the agreement.

Mr. Trump warned that there would be “high costs for everything” unless the hostages were freed by the time he became president. Steve Witkoff, his pick as Middle East envoy, also made trips to Qatar and Israel, meeting with top officials there, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Saturday. (Mr. Witkoff is also co-chairman of Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee, which is in charge of next week’s ceremony.)

If Hamas and Israel sign an agreement, it will bring relief to Palestinians in Gaza who have suffered miserable conditions IN displacement camp and the incessant Israeli bombardment of and against the families of Hostages kidnapped from Israelpeople who have been worried for more than a year now about the fate of their loved ones.

“I pray this time,” said Manar Silmi, 34, a psychologist for an international aid group who is hoping to return to the Gaza City home she fled at the beginning of the war. The return is real.” “We have suffered enough.”

A framework agreement has been sent to both sides, al-Ansari said, adding that negotiations are now focused on “outstanding details” on how the deal will be implemented.

In a statement, Hamas also said that the negotiations “have reached the final stage”. Hamas said the leader of the Palestinian armed group “hopes that this round of negotiations will end with a full and clear agreement.”

Hamas officials negotiating in Doha must get the approval of the group’s remaining military commanders in Gaza for the new deal. Those commanders included Mohammad Sinwar, whose brother Yahya had led the group before his death killed by Israel in September. Communicating with them can be difficult, leading to delays.

It is still unclear whether Mr. Sinwar will convey to Hamas leaders in Doha his position on the proposed ceasefire.

A diplomat familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the volatile negotiations, said the agreement’s framework was heavily inspired by previous proposals. discussed in May and July. Those proposals detailed a three-phase ceasefire in which Israeli troops would gradually withdraw from Gaza, while Hamas released hostages in exchange for captured Palestinians. Israel imprisoned.

For more than a year, international efforts have failed to end the fighting sparked by a Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people in October 2023. According to Israeli authorities, another 250 people were killed. Taken hostage in Gaza.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas, destroying large areas of the enclave and killing at least 45,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, who did not distinguish between populations. ordinary and warrior.

Some 105 hostages were released in a week-long ceasefire in November 2023, the bodies of others were recovered by the Israeli army and a few were rescued alive. Some 98 hostages are currently believed to remain in Gaza, some 36 of whom are believed dead by Israeli authorities.

An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations said that in the first phase of the proposed ceasefire – lasting about six weeks – Hamas would release 33 named hostages, most of whom Israel believes are alive. This official said that Israel is willing to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange, but this number depends on the number of hostages still alive.

Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri, 19, was kidnapped from the military base where she served during the Hamas-led attack, met Netanyahu on Tuesday night along with other relatives of the hostages.

Mr. Netanyahu shows optimism, Mr. Albag said. But he said he still finds it difficult to think about what welcoming his daughter home will be like.

“We want to see the agreement signed first,” he said. “Then we will make room for other thoughts.”

While Israeli public opinion is under considerable pressure to reach a deal to free the hostages, many Israelis also fear that a ceasefire would leave Hamas in power in Gaza, allowing the group’s fighters to regroup. and planning more attacks.

Two of Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition allies — Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — denounced the proposed deal as an effective capitulation to Hamas. Two far-right parties could threaten Netanyahu’s government if they withdraw from his ruling coalition in protest.

The deal could still pass, as the opposition in Israel’s parliament has virtually pledged to give Netanyahu a safety net to secure a ceasefire and hostage settlement. But it is unclear how long that will last, as it would leave Netanyahu’s political future dependent on his opponents who have vowed to overthrow him.

In Gaza, Montaser Bahja, a migrant English teacher sheltering in Gaza City, said Palestinians were starting to feel hope for an agreement after more than a year of hunger and deprivation.

But even as both sides declared a ceasefire, many Gazans remained fearful of their uncertain post-war future, Mr. Bahja said. And even if the Hamas deal secures the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, few see it as an achievement given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza, he added.

“Everything is up in the air,” he said. “At this point, people just want it to end.”