Negotiators from Israel and Hamas are making a final push to seal a Gaza ceasefire in Doha, with all sides suggesting a deal is close to being reached.
There were reports of a breakthrough on Wednesday, with unnamed Israeli officials saying Hamas had agreed to the latest draft presented by Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office quickly denied the reports. There was also no immediate comment from the Palestinian armed group.
On Tuesday night, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said both sides were “on the brink” of a deal and were awaiting “the final word from Hamas”.
A senior Hamas official later told the Reuters news agency that he had not submitted his official response to the draft because Israel had yet to submit maps showing how its troops would withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
However, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper cited an Israeli source denying Hamas’ claim about the maps.
The proposed three-phase deal would begin with an initial six-week ceasefire.
A Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas would release the three hostages on the first day of the deal, after which Israel would begin withdrawing troops from populated areas.
Additional hostage releases will then be distributed over the coming weeks, he said, and Israel will allow displaced residents to return to the northern areas.
Israel said it expected the release of 33 hostages in the first phase and would in return release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Negotiations for the second phase – which should allow for the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and a “sustainable peace” – would begin in two weeks.
A spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that there were no major issues blocking the deal and that he hoped the talks would “lead to an agreement very quickly”.
However, he also warned that this “smallest detail” could still undermine the process.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Since then, more than 46,700 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there. Most of the 2.3 million population have also been displaced, destruction is widespread, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as the struggle to help those in need.
Israel says Hamas is still holding 94 hostages, 34 of whom are presumed dead. In addition, four Israelis were kidnapped before the war, two of whom are dead.
Relatives of the remaining hostages called on the Israeli government to do whatever it takes to reach an agreement and bring them all back home.
“We cannot miss this moment. This is the last moment; we can save them,” said Hadas Calderon, wife of Ofer Calderon, 54.
Palestinians also dared to hope that the end of the devastating 15-month war was near.
“We are waiting for a cease-fire and a truce. May God complete it for us in kindness, bless us with peace and allow us to return to our homes,” Amal Saleh, 54, told the Reuters news agency.
“Even if the schools are bombed, destroyed and destroyed, we just want to know that we are finally living in peace.”
There was no reduction in the intensity of the war while the negotiations continued.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday morning that it had carried out attacks on more than 50 targets across the territory in the past day.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 62 people were killed in the same period.
Overnight, an attack on a house in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed 11 people, including four children, the civil defense agency told the AFP news agency.
As she sifted through the rubble of the destroyed building, Kifaya Shacoura said that among the dead were her uncle and aunt, their children and grandchildren.
“People are waiting to declare a truce. But, unfortunately, we woke up to the… news that they have become martyrs. What can we say?”
Seven more people were reportedly killed in an attack on a school used as a shelter for displaced families in the northern city of Gaza.
The Israeli military said it targeted a “terrorist serving in a central position” who was at a school in the city, and also carried out strikes against Hamas operatives in Deir al-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis.
It added that steps had been taken to mitigate harm to civilians and accused Hamas of exploiting civilian structures for military purposes.
