Gaza ceasefire deal ‘closer than it’s ever been’ with talks to take place on Tuesday, official says

A round of Gaza ceasefire talks will be held in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday morning to finalize the remaining details of the deal, an official familiar with the talks told Reuters on Monday.

An agreement to end the war in Gaza “is closer than it has ever been,” the official said, adding that US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, the outgoing Biden administration’s envoy Brett McGurk, Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Host Ronen Bar was expected to attend.

Earlier Monday, mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of the agreement, an official familiar with the negotiations said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks involving envoys from both Biden and Trump.

Biden said that an agreement that would ensure the release of the hostages and the achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza is on the verge of being realized.

The text for the ceasefire and the release of the hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at the negotiations in Doha.

“The next 24 hours will be crucial to reach an agreement,” the official said.

What did Hamas, Israeli officials say?

While they did not confirm that a final draft had been reached, officials from both sides described progress in the talks but did not provide details of the draft agreement.

“Negotiations on some key issues have progressed and we are working to conclude what remains soon,” a Hamas official told Reuters on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the talks were coordinated between the Biden and Trump teams.

“There is progress, it looks a lot better than before,” Saar said at a news conference on Monday.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been working for more than a year to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza.

In Cairo, an Egyptian security official told Reuters that the draft sent to the two warring parties does not contain a final agreement but “aims to resolve outstanding issues that have hindered previous negotiations.”

What did both sides mostly agree on?

For months, the two sides have broadly agreed on the principle of a cessation of fighting in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian detainees held by Israel. However, Hamas has always insisted that the deal must lead to a permanent end to the war and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has said it will not end the war until Hamas is disbanded.

Trump’s January 20 inauguration is now widely seen in the region as a de facto deadline. The president-elect has said there will be “hell to pay” if hostages held by Hamas are not released before he takes office, while outgoing President Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leaves.

The official said the talks continued into the early hours of Monday morning, with Witkoff pushing the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pushing Hamas officials to finalize the deal.

The head of Egypt’s general intelligence agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, was also in the Qatari capital as part of the talks, the official said.

Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel several times since the end of November. He was in Doha on Friday and traveled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday before returning to Doha.

Biden also spoke by phone with Netanyahu on Sunday, stressing “the immediate need for a cease-fire in Gaza and the return of hostages along with an increase in humanitarian aid made possible by the cessation of hostilities under the agreement,” the White House said.

Attacks intensify in northern Gaza, killing 50 people

The bloodshed continued in Gaza on Monday, and a CBC cameraman in Gaza said Israeli bombardment intensified in northern Gaza, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100 in multiple airstrikes, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.

In addition, in Gaza City, five people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza City that was sheltering displaced families.

In a press release on Sunday, Save the Children sounded the alarm over ongoing attacks on schools in Gaza, where Palestinian families have taken refuge – making a total of five Israeli attacks on schools in the past week.

“Not just to have [children] missed more than a year of school — classrooms that once offered a safe space for learning, play and development have become death traps,” said Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East.

“A permanent ceasefire is painfully overdue – every day without it, the future of more children is at risk.”

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave devastated and most of the population displaced.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hard-line nationalist who has opposed previous attempts to reach a deal, denounced the latest proposals as “surrender” and “a disaster for the national security of the State of Israel.”

In the past few months, fighting has been particularly intense along Gaza’s northern edge, where Israel says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping and Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently empty the buffer zone.

A spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, Abu Ubaid, said the group’s fighters attacked Israeli forces in the area, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding dozens of others in the past 72 hours. Israel confirmed on Saturday that four soldiers were killed.