DOHA: Negotiators were close to finalizing a ceasefire agreement in Gaza on Wednesday following extensive discussions in Qatar. Both U.S. and Egyptian leaders expressed their commitment to maintaining close communication regarding the details of the deal in the hours ahead.
More than eight hours of talks in Doha had fuelled optimism. Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. as well as Israel and Hamas said an agreement for a truce in the besieged enclave and release of hostages was closer than ever.
But a senior Hamas official told Reuters late on Tuesday that, Palestinian group had not delivered its response yet because it was still waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration has been taking part alongside an envoy of President-elect Donald Trump, said a deal was close.
Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi talked about progress in the negotiations on Tuesday.
“Both leaders committed to remain in close coordination directly and through their teams over the coming hours,” the White House said in a statement after the leaders’ telephone call.
The two presidents “emphasized the urgent need for a deal to be implemented.”
Hamas said, the talks had reached the final steps and it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal.
CONDITIONS OF FINAL CEASEFIRE TALKS:
If successful, the phased ceasefire – capping over a year of start-and-stop talks – could halt fighting that decimated Gaza, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, made most of the enclave’s population homeless and is still killing dozens a day.
That in turn could ease tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has fuelled conflict in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran.
Israel would recover around 100 remaining hostages and bodies from among those captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that precipitated the war. In return it would free Palestinian detainees.
On the other side, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who gave a speech in Washington outlining a vision for governing the Palestinian territories after the war, said it was up to Hamas to accept a deal that was already set for implementation.