Talks for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas continued in earnest Tuesday, with officials from both sides and from mediating countries estimating that a landmark agreement to end the 15-month war was near-finalized, with multiple outlets reporting details of its content,
The Time of Israel reports.
Key mediator Qatar said Tuesday that a day earlier it had presented both parties with a “final” draft of the agreement. Israel’s Channel 12 news reported Monday that Jerusalem considered it broadly acceptable, and senior Israeli officials said they were waiting for Hamas’s reaction.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Hamas accepted the deal as well, citing two officials involved in the talks. However, CNN later cited an Egyptian official as saying the mediating countries — Qatar, Egypt, and the United States — had not yet received a response from the Palestinian terror group.
Hamas did say the ongoing negotiations had reached their “final stage” and that it had held consultations with other Palestinian factions and informed them of the “progress made.”
Some of the hostages are being held by other terror groups in Gaza, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which announced on Tuesday evening that it had sent a delegation to Doha to participate in talks regarding the final details of the deal.
