By Andrew Mills, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell
DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Negotiators in Qatar were close to sealing a deal on Wednesday for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and demolished the enclave.
The militant group Hamas told Reuters its delegation handed mediators its approval for the ceasefire agreement and return of hostages.
A Palestinian official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters earlier that Hamas had given verbal approval to the ceasefire and hostage return proposal under negotiation in Qatar and was waiting for more information to give final written approval.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry was due to hold a press conference on Wednesday evening in Doha, where the talks have taken place, a senior Qatari official said. The official did not give a time.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was cutting a visit to Europe short and flying back to Israel overnight so that he could take part in security cabinet and government votes on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal — meaning the votes would likely be by or on Thursday.
Earlier, an Israeli official said Hamas had agreed to the proposal shared by Qatari negotiators, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said shortly afterward that Hamas had not yet given a response.
Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. as well as Israel and Hamas said on Tuesday an agreement was closer than ever for a truce in the besieged enclave, the release of hostages held there, and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
A senior Hamas official had told Reuters late on Tuesday it had not yet delivered its response because it was still waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza.
During months of on-off talks, the warring sides have previously said they were close to a ceasefire only to hit last-minute obstacles. The broad outlines of the current deal have been in place since mid-2024.
If successful, the planned phased ceasefire could halt fighting that has left much of Gaza in ruins and displaced most of the enclave’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.
That in turn could ease tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has fuelled conflict in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran.
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 46,700 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave.
Under the plan, Israel would recover around 100 remaining hostages and bodies from among those captured in the October 2023 Hamas attacks that precipitated the war. In return it would free Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails.
The latest draft is complicated and sensitive. Under its terms, the first steps would feature a six-week initial ceasefire.
The plan also includes a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to the north of the enclave.
The deal would also require Hamas to release 33 Israeli hostages along with other steps.
The draft stipulates negotiations over a second phase of the agreement to begin by the 16th day of phase one. Phase two includes the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers.
Even if the warring sides agree to the deal on the table, that agreement still needs further negotiation before there is a final ceasefire and the release of all the hostages.
If it all goes smoothly, the Palestinians, Arab states and Israel still need to agree on a vision for post-war Gaza, a massive task involving security guarantees for Israel and billions of dollars in investment for rebuilding.
One unanswered question is who will run Gaza after the war.
Israel has rejected any involvement by Hamas, which ran Gaza before the war, but it has been almost equally opposed to rule by the Palestinian Authority, the body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that has limited governing power in the West Bank.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority must be the sole governing power in Gaza after the war.
Palestinians hoped the latest talks would deliver some relief.
“We are waiting for the ceasefire and the truce. May God complete it for us in goodness, bless us with peace, and allow us to return to our homes,” said Amal Saleh, 54, a Gazan displaced by the war.
“Even if the schools are bombed, destroyed, and ruined, we just want to know that we are finally living in peace.”
ISRAELI ATTACKS
Despite the talks on a ceasefire, the Israeli military, the Shin Bet internal intelligence agency and the air force attacked about 50 targets throughout Gaza over the last 24 hours, Shin Bet and the military said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israeli strikes killed at least 18 Palestinians across the enclave. Those included seven people who were in a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, and six others killed in separate airstrikes on houses in Deir Al-Balah, Bureij camp and Rafah, medics said. An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed five people, medics said.
Families of hostages in Israel were caught between hope and despair.
“We can’t miss this moment. This is the last moment; we can save them,” said Hadas Calderon, whose husband Ofer and children Sahar and Erez were abducted.
Israel says 98 hostages are being held in Gaza, about half of whom are believed to be alive. They include Israelis and non-Israelis. Of the total, 94 were seized in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and four have been held in Gaza since 2014.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in JerusalemAdditional reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai and Ramadan Abed in GazaWriting by Michael Georgy Editing by Angus MacSwan and Frances Kerry)
