Talks edge closer in Gaza ceasefire push
Mediators say Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of dozens of hostages, marking the most advanced stage yet in talks that have moved through months of deadlock. The apparent progress, reported by officials involved in the negotiations and reflected in a draft proposal obtained by the Associated Press, still leaves several formal steps before any pause in fighting can begin.
The reported draft would be a three-phase plan, and an Israeli official said details were still being finalized. Even after that, the agreement would need to go to Israel’s Security Cabinet and then its full Cabinet for approval. The AP reported that the United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end to the war and to secure the release of hostages taken in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack.
The talks are unfolding against a devastating backdrop in Gaza. According to the AP report, Israel’s offensive has displaced about 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and left large parts of the enclave in ruins. The article also says nearly 100 hostages remain inside Gaza and that Israeli officials believe at least a third are dead. Those numbers capture why a partial agreement would be seen as significant even if it does not resolve the wider war.
The political timetable matters too. U.S. officials are trying to close a deal before the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech on Tuesday that a ceasefire was “closer than it’s ever been before,” though he also warned that no deal was complete. The AP noted that previous moments of optimism collapsed when the sides accused each other of stalling.
Public pressure on both sides remained visible on Tuesday. In Jerusalem, hundreds marched against the expected agreement, arguing that the government should not concede to Hamas. In Tel Aviv, relatives of hostages protested after hearing that the draft would not free all captives in the first stage. That split reflects the central tension in the talks: any agreement has to balance the demand to recover hostages with the political and military demands of ending the war.
The AP report also described continuing violence in central Gaza, where at least six people were killed in strikes that hit an area where displaced people were living in tents. That detail underlines how closely the diplomacy and the fighting are intertwined. Even as negotiators speak of a breakthrough, the battlefield remains active and the humanitarian toll continues to rise.
For now, the talks appear to be at the point where a draft exists, but approval and implementation are still uncertain. The mediators involved have not declared a final agreement, and the Israeli side has not yet moved beyond the internal review stage. What happens next will depend on whether the draft can survive the political and security checks that have derailed earlier rounds.
