Israel and Hamas make final push for Gaza ceasefire deal

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.

Reports of the breakthrough emerged on Wednesday, with unnamed Israeli officials saying Hamas had agreed to the latest draft presented by Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators.

However, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied this information. There was also no comment from the Palestinian armed group.

On Tuesday night, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said they were “on the brink” of a deal and were awaiting “the final word from Hamas”.

A senior Hamas official later told Reuters that he had not given an official response to the project because Israel had not yet provided maps showing how its troops would be withdrawn from the Gaza Strip.

However, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited an Israeli source denying Hamas’ claim about the maps.

The proposed three-phase agreement 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 the settlements.

He said more hostage releases would take place in the coming weeks when Israel allowed displaced residents to return to the northern areas.

Israel said it expected the release of 33 hostages in the first phase and that in return it would release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

Negotiations on the second phase, which should involve the release of the remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and “sustainable peace”, will 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 “very soon lead to an agreement”.

However, he also warned that this “smallest detail” could yet 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, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.

More than 46,700 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Much of the population of 2.3 million has also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter amid the struggle to help those living in need.

Israel says 94 hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are believed to be dead. In addition, there are four Israelis abducted before the war, two of whom are already dead.

Relatives of the remaining hostages urged the Israeli government to do everything possible to reach an agreement and bring them all back home.

“We cannot miss this moment. This is the last point; we can save them,” said Hadas Calderon, 54-year-old wife of Ofer Calderon.

The Palestinians also dared to hope that the end of the devastating 15-month war was near.

“We are waiting for a ceasefire and a truce. May God end this for us in kindness, bless us with peace and allow us to return to our homes,” Amal Saleh, 54, told Reuters.

“Even when schools are being bombed and destroyed and destroyed, we just want to know that finally we live in peace.”

As the negotiations continued, the intensity of the war did not diminish.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday morning that they had struck more than 50 targets throughout the territory in the past day.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 62 people were killed during the same period.

At night, as a result of an attack on a house in the center of the city of Deir el-Balah, 11 people were killed, including four children, the civil defense agency told AFP.

As she picked through the rubble of the destroyed building, Kifaya Shakura said her uncle and aunt, their children and grandchildren were among the dead.

“People are waiting for them to call a truce. But alas, we woke up to the… news that they had become martyrs. What can I say?”

Seven more people were reportedly killed in a strike on a school being used as a shelter for displaced families in northern Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it had struck a “terrorist in a central position” who was at a school in the city, and that it had also struck Hamas militants in Deir el-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis.

He added that measures had been taken to minimize harm to civilians and accused Hamas of using civilian structures for military purposes.