A ceasefire in the Israel and Hamas war in Gaza is at its “closest point” yet, Qatar has said, as hopes grow that a deal to end the devastating 15-month conflict is imminent.
Negotiations to bring the conflict to an end are in their final stages, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference in Doha on Tuesday.
Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has sought to mediate a deal for months.
“A draft agreement has been handed to both Hamas and Israel and major obstacles on key contentious issues between the two sides have been addressed,” al-Ansari said.
“Current discussions in Doha are focused on finalising the remaining details,” he continued. “Today, we are at the closest point ever to having a deal.”
The spokesperson predicted that the implementation of the ceasefire agreement would occur “very shortly after it is finalised”.
“We do believe that we [Qatar] were able, through negotiations and through our partners in Egypt and the United States, to minimise a lot of the disagreements between both parties,” al-Ansari added.
However, he cautioned against setting expectations too high until there is a formal announcement.
“We do believe we are at a developed stage, we do believe we are at a final stage, but obviously, until there is an announcement, there will be no announcement,” he said.
“Therefore, we shouldn’t be overexcited about what’s happening right now. But certainly, we are hopeful.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to hold urgent top-level security consultations on Tuesday evening to discuss the deal that is currently on the table, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said, reporting from Amman, Jordan as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has banned Al Jazeera from operating in the occupied West Bank.
“Remember that Netanyahu, for more than a year, has said that even if a pause in the fighting is secured, he would still want to return to the fighting to achieve all of the military objectives that he set out after the war on Gaza began,” she said.
“So it’s still unclear if this ceasefire deal would be an ultimate end to the war, or if it’s just a pause in the fighting.”
The US, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end to the war and secure the release of dozens of captives taken during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. Some 100 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, although the Israeli military believes at least one-third of them are dead.
Israel’s military bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people and injured nearly 110,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Dozens more Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, with medical sources telling Al Jazeera that at least 38 people, including two children, have been killed since dawn.
Details of the deal
According to details leaked by the Israeli media, the ceasefire deal being hammered out will be implemented in three stages.
In the first, 33 Israeli captives being held in Gaza will be released. Israel will free 50 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for each female soldier released, and 30 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining civilians being held captive.
The second phase will begin 16 days later, focusing on negotiations to release the remaining prisoners. The final stage will address long-term arrangements, including an alternative government in Gaza and rebuilding efforts.
The reports also said Israel will completely withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor – the strip of land between the borders of Gaza and Egypt – at the end of the first phase of the deal.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group also sent a delegation to Doha on Tuesday to participate in discussions around the final details of the potential deal.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he also believes there will be a ceasefire agreement and laid out Washington’s “day after” plan for Gaza.
The outgoing diplomat said a key element would include international help for the PA to establish an interim administration to oversee civil affairs in the enclave, with the government handing over control to a “reformed” PA later.
However, Israel has repeatedly rejected allowing the PA, which administers areas of the occupied West Bank, to take over Gaza.
Blinken also said an interim security force in Gaza would include soldiers from “partner nations” to secure an environment for increased humanitarian assistance and rebuilding.
“For many months, we’ve been working intensely with our partners to develop a detailed post-conflict plan that would allow Israel to fully withdraw from Gaza, prevent Hamas from filling back in, and provide for Gaza’s governance, security and reconstruction,” Blinken said.
The US had repeatedly warned Israel that Hamas could not be defeated by a military campaign alone, he said.
“We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new [fighters] as it has lost. That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has intensified its attacks in recent days as the ceasefire appears closest to the finish line.
In one of its latest attacks, Israel killed at least four Palestinians in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, where a fisherman was also killed off the coast by an Israeli gunboat in a separate attack.
The record number of Palestinian media workers killed in the Gaza Strip also rose to 204 on Tuesday after journalist Mohammed al-Talmas succumbed to injuries sustained as a result of an Israeli bombing of Gaza City a day earlier.
