Gaza ceasefire deal 'closer than it's ever been' with talks to be held Tuesday, official says
5 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza City school in ongoing attacks Monday
A round of Gaza ceasefire talks will be held in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday to finalize remaining details related to the deal, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Monday.
A deal to end the Gaza war is "closer than it's ever been," the official said, adding that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, outgoing Biden administration envoy Brett McGurk, Israel's Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar were expected to attend.
A Palestinian source close to the talks told Reuters he expected the deal to be finalized on Tuesday if "all goes well."
Earlier on Monday, mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of the deal, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight "breakthrough" in talks attended by envoys of both Biden and Trump.
Biden said that a deal that will secure the release of hostages and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza was on the brink of coming to fruition.
The text for a ceasefire and the release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha.
"The next 24 hours will be pivotal to reaching the deal," the official said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ball was in Hamas's court. He is due to present a post-war plan for Gaza on Tuesday, Axios reported Monday evening.
Up to 33 hostages would be released
Hamas said it was keen to reach a deal to end the fighting. An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 hostages as part of the deal. Ninety-eight hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
What have Hamas, Israeli officials said?
While stopping short of confirming that a final draft had been reached, officials on both sides described progress at the talks, but provided no details of the draft agreement.
"The negotiation over some core issues made progress and we are working to conclude what remains soon," a Hamas official told Reuters on Monday, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the negotiations were being co-ordinated between Biden's and Trump's teams.
"There is progress, it looks much better than previously," Saar told a news conference on Monday.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have worked for more than a year on talks to end the war in Gaza.
In Cairo, an Egyptian security official told Reuters the draft sent to the two warring sides did not comprise the final agreement but "aims to resolve outstanding issues that had hindered previous negotiations."
What have both sides broadly agreed on?
The two sides have for months agreed broadly on the principle of halting the fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian detainees held by Israel. However, Hamas has always insisted the deal must lead to a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has said it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled.
Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration is now widely seen in the region as a de facto deadline. The president-elect has said there would be "hell to pay" unless hostages held by Hamas are freed before he takes office, while outgoing President Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leaves.
The official said talks went until the early hours of Monday, with Witkoff pushing the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pushing Hamas officials to finalize an agreement.
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 travelled to Qatar and Israel several times since late November. He was in Doha on Friday and traveled to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday before returning to Doha.
Biden also spoke on Sunday by phone with Netanyahu, stressing "the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," the White House said.
Attacks intensify in northern Gaza, killing 50
Bloodshed continued in Gaza on Monday, with CBC's videographer in Gaza saying Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza intensified, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 100 in multiple airstrikes, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.
Separately, in Gaza City, five people were killed in an Israeli strike at a Gaza City school sheltering displaced families.
In a news release Sunday, Save the Children sounded the alarm about ongoing attacks on schools in Gaza, where Palestinian families are sheltering — logging a total of five attacks on schools by Israel the week before.
"Not only have [children] missed more than a year of school — the classrooms that once offered a safe space to learn, play and develop have become death traps," said Jeremy Stoner, Middle East regional director at Save the Children.
"A lasting ceasefire is painfully overdue — each day without it risks more children's futures."
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most of its population displaced.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline nationalist who has opposed previous attempts to reach a deal, denounced the latest proposals as a "surrender" and a "catastrophe for the national security of the state of Israel."
For the last several months, fighting has been particularly intense along the northern edge of Gaza, where Israel says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping and Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate a buffer zone.
Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said the group's fighters attacked Israeli forces in the area, killing at least 10 soldiers and injuring dozens of others in the past 72 hours. Israel confirmed on Saturday that four soldiers had been killed.
With files from CBC News