Negotiators met in Qatar on Tuesday hoping to hammer out final details of a ceasefire in Gaza, with mediators and the warring sides all describing a deal as closer than ever. More than six hours after talks began there was still no word on an outcome.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson told a news conference that talks on the final details were underway after both sides were presented with a text. US President Joe Biden, whose administration has been taking part alongside an envoy of president-elect Donald Trump, said a deal was close.
Hamas said the talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US. An Israeli official said talks had reached a critical phase although some details needed to be hammered out: “We are close, we are not there yet”.
Militant group Islamic Jihad, which is separate from Hamas and also holds hostages in Gaza, said it was sending a senior delegation that would arrive in Doha on Tuesday night to take part in final arrangements for a ceasefire deal.
If successful, the phased ceasefire – capping over a year of start-and-stop talks – could halt fighting that decimated Gaza, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, made most of the enclave’s population homeless and is still killing dozens a day. That in turn could ease tensions across West Asia, where the war has fuelled conflict in West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran. Israel would recover around 100 remaining hostages and bodies from among those captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that precipitated the war. In return it would free Palestinian detainees.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said it was up to Hamas to accept a deal that was already set for implementation. According to two officials involved in the talks, Hamas has accepted the draft agreement.
If a deal is reached, it would not go into effect immediately. The plan would need approval from PM Netanyahu’s security cabinet and then his full cabinet. Both are dominated by his allies and are likely to approve any proposal he presents. However, Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Monday he would oppose the deal on table, calling it “a catastrophe for Israel’s national security”. On Tuesday, a second far-right member of Netanyahu’s govt, national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, said he too opposed a deal.
Families of hostages in Israel were on edge. Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter 24-year-old Romi was shot and seized by gunmen at a music festival, said the family had been picturing her return for months. “We have to keep our feet on the ground. But on the other hand our heads are in the clouds”.
