As ceasefire talks continue, an Israeli airstrike killed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza [Getty]
Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday.
Mediators from the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war.
An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalised. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks.
“I believe we will get a ceasefire,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech Tuesday, asserting it was up to Hamas. “It’s right on the brink. It’s closer than it’s ever been before,” and word could come within hours or days.
Any deal is expected to pause the fighting and bring hopes for winding down the most deadly and destructive war Israel has ever embarked on Gaza, which has destabilised the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
It would bring relief to the hard-hit strip, where Israel’s offensive has reduced large areas to rubble and displaced around 90 percent of the population of 2.3 million, many at risk of famine.
If a deal is reached, it would not go into effect immediately. The plan would need approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet and then his full Cabinet. Both are dominated by Netanyahu allies and are likely to approve any proposal he presents.
Officials have expressed optimism before, only for negotiations to stall while the warring sides blamed each other. But they now suggest they can conclude an agreement ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations.
Hamas said in a statement that negotiations had reached their “final stage”.
Since Israel’s offensive in October, over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than half of them women and children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are facing warrants over war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Israeli strikes across the strip overnight and into Tuesday killed dozens of Palestinians, including two women and four children, according to local health officials, who said one woman was pregnant and the baby died as well.
A three-phase agreement
The three-phase agreement — based on a framework laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council — would begin with the release of 33 hostages over a six-week period, including women, children, older adults and wounded civilians in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel.
Among the 33 would be five female Israeli soldiers, each to be released in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 militants who are serving life sentences.
The Israeli official said Israel assumes most of the 33 are alive.
During this 42-day phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from population centres, Palestinians could start returning to what remains of their homes in northern Gaza and there would be a surge of humanitarian aid, with some 600 trucks entering each day.
Details of the second phase still must be negotiated during the first. Those details remain difficult to resolve — and the deal does not include written guarantees that the ceasefire will continue until a deal is reached. That means Israel could resume its military campaign after the first phase ends.
The Israeli official said “detailed negotiations” on the second phase will begin during the first. He said Israel will retain some “assets” throughout negotiations, referring to a military presence, and would not leave the Gaza Strip until all hostages are home.
The three mediators have given Hamas verbal guarantees that negotiations will continue as planned and that they will press for a deal to implement the second and third phases before the end of the first, the Egyptian official said.
The deal would allow Israel throughout the first phase to remain in control of the Philadelphi corridor, the band of territory along Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Hamas had initially demanded Israel withdraw from. Israel would withdraw from the Netzarim corridor, a belt across central Gaza where it had sought a mechanism for searching Palestinians for arms when they returned to the territory’s north.
In the second phase, Hamas would release the remaining living captives, mainly male soldiers, in exchange for more prisoners and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza, according to the draft agreement.
Hamas has said it will not free the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal, while Netanyahu has vowed in the past to resume fighting until Hamas’ military and governing capabilities are eliminated.
Unless an alternative government for Gaza is worked out in those talks, it could leave Hamas in charge of the territory.
In a third phase, the bodies of remaining hostages would be returned in exchange for a three- to five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza under international supervision.