Israel and Hamas have a "final" draft of a deal to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and release hostages from the strip, according to a new report, after fresh negotiations in Qatar ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment when contacted by Newsweek.
Why It Matters
Officials are rushing to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza and return the 98 hostages still held in the enclave before Trump returns to the Oval Office on January 20. Seven of the remaining hostages are U.S. citizens.
Trump said earlier in January that "all hell will break out in the Middle East" if the hostages in Gaza were not released by his inauguration. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Monday that the Israeli government was working with Biden and Trump officials on a ceasefire and hostage deal.
Palestinian militant group Hamas launched unprecedented attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people with over 250 taken as hostages into Gaza. Israel then vowed to eradicate Hamas, and more than 15 months of war in the strip have devastated the Palestinian territory.
Hamas-run health authorities say more than 46,000 people have been killed, although it does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
What To Know
The Reuters news agency reported on Monday, citing an official briefed on the negotiations, that Qatar had presented Israeli officials and representatives for Hamas with a "final" draft of a ceasefire and hostage deal.
It is not clear how many hostages would be released under such an agreement. Reports from earlier in January suggested Hamas had been willing to return 34 hostages to Israel. Netanyahu's office said last week the list of these hostages was "originally given by Israel to the mediators" attempting to broker agreements in July 2024.
Reuters reported that the "breakthrough" was reached in the Qatari capital, Doha, in the early hours of Monday after talks between Israeli spy chiefs, Qatar's prime minister and President-elect Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Netanyahu's office said Witkoff had met with the Israeli leader on Saturday. Qatar's government said in a statement on Friday that the country's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, had met with Witkoff.
Netanyahu instructed the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, to travel to Doha "to continue advancing a deal to release our hostages," his office said in a statement.
An Israeli source with knowledge of the talks told Newsweek in December that Barnea would likely be a high-profile player in the closing stages of negotiations.
The White House said on Sunday that Biden had spoken to Netanyahu about the Doha talks and a deal proposed by the administration in May 2024. Biden "stressed 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.
Netanyahu has faced increasingly loud calls from inside Israel to secure the release of the hostages.
Sa'ar told reporters in Jerusalem on Monday that there had been "some progress in the negotiations," and that Israel was "working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal."
"Soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing," Sa'ar said, according to Israeli media reports.
Israel's far right minister of finance, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Monday he would not support what he termed a "surrender deal" that was a "catastrophe" for the country's national security.
Who Said What
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Saturday: "The Prime Minister directed the Mossad Director, the ISA Director, Maj.-Gen. (Res) Nitzan Alon, and his Foreign Policy Adviser, Dr. Ophir Falk, to depart for Doha in order to continue advancing a deal to release our hostages."
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an organization formed by the loved ones of hostages, on Monday: "Every hostage must be returned home immediately and unconditionally."
Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, in a statement on Monday: "The emerging deal is a catastrophe for the national security of the State of Israel. We will not be part of a surrender deal that would include releasing terrorist hostages, stopping the war and dissolving its achievements that were bought with much blood, and abandoning many hostages. This is the time to continue with all our might, to occupy and cleanse the entire Strip, to finally take control of humanitarian aid from Hamas, and to open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders completely and all the hostages are returned."
What Happens Next
It still remains to be seen whether a deal will be inked in the next week, both to stop the destruction of Gaza and to return the hostages.
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