Israeli officials say hostage-ceasefire deal is close, awaiting final Hamas approval
‘Final’ draft presented to sides, Israel said to broadly accept it; Hamas says freedom near for its security prisoners; Smotrich calls it a ‘catastrophe’; Lapid, Gantz back it

Multiple reports Monday indicated that talks in Qatar for a ceasefire-hostage deal in Gaza had achieved a significant breakthrough overnight, with Israeli officials speaking to several Hebrew media outlets saying an agreement could be close.
Speaking to Reuters on Monday morning, an unnamed official briefed on the negotiations said Doha had handed both parties a “final” draft of the agreement, following a breakthrough in the early hours of the morning in talks between Israel’s negotiating team, Qatar’s prime minister, and US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, who recently joined the negotiations.
In a follow-up report later in the day, an Israeli official told Reuters that Jerusalem had yet to receive a draft proposal from Qatar. But Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the draft was received by Israel overnight and that it was broadly acceptable to Israel. It said the draft had been approved by Hamas leaders abroad, and “everything” now depended on the agreement of Muhammad Sinwar, Hamas’s de facto leader in Gaza.
Hamas issued a statement on Monday afternoon confirming that progress had been made: “We renew our pledge with our steadfast and patient people and with our heroic prisoners in the prisons, and we affirm that their freedom is near,” it said.
A person familiar with the talks told the Associated Press that Qatari mediators had put pressure on Hamas to accept the agreement, while Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had done the same in parallel talks with the Israeli team.
Adding to the sea of sometimes contradictory information published across various reports, unnamed Israeli officials briefed some news outlets including channels 12 and 13 that an agreement was virtually done, and was awaiting final approval by Hamas.

‘Cautious progress’
Noting that its reporting had been approved by Israel’s military censor, Channel 12 asserted that the developments were “dramatic.”
According to the news outlet, the proposal on the table is similar to the phased deal that was discussed last May, but which never materialized.
Talks have largely revolved around a proposed three-stage deal in which “humanitarian” cases, including women, children, men over 50, and the infirm, would be released first.
On the 16th day of the ceasefire, talks would begin on securing the release of men of military age, followed by a third stage that would see discussions on the governance and reconstruction of the Strip.
An official involved in the negotiations in Doha told Army Radio: “There is cautious progress; it seems the direction is positive.”
Another told Channel 13 that “if Hamas responds soon, all the details can be finalized within days.” The official added that “Israel has come a long way” in its efforts to accommodate Hamas in the negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that US and Arab mediators had made significant progress overnight toward brokering a deal, but officials said that an agreement had yet to be reached.
Three officials acknowledged progress had been made, and said that the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of war, sparked by Hamas’s devastating attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.
One of the three officials and a Hamas official acknowledged that there were still a number of hurdles to clear. On several occasions over the past year, US officials have said the sides appeared to be on the verge of reaching a deal, only for the talks to break down.
An Egyptian official, meanwhile, said that there had been good progress overnight but also acknowledged that it would likely take a few more days, although the sides were aiming for a deal before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. A third official also assessed that a deal was possible before Trump enters the White House, and said that although they were not yet wrapped up, the talks were in a good place.
A Hamas official said a number of contentious issues still need to be resolved, including an Israeli commitment to end the war and details about the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke anonymously. The Egyptian official confirmed that those issues were still being discussed.
Israel has previously insisted that any ceasefire must not prevent it from continuing the war at a later stage, and the matter has been a key sticking point between the sides. Israel has made the demolition of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities one of its war goals.
Some issues resolved, but pressing matters remain
The London-based Qatari news outlet Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Monday that Israel had submitted a plan to Doha mediators detailing what its presence would look like in the Gaza Strip during and after each phase of the potential deal.
According to the report, Israel has sought a buffer zone of around a kilometer and a half (roughly one mile) along the Gazan border that will remain under Israeli control. Before October 7, 2023, a 300-meter area by the fence had been considered a buffer zone. While there were no Israeli soldiers there, there was an understanding that troops may fire on anyone who entered.
The report claimed that agreements had been reached on the various areas from which the IDF would be required to withdraw during the first and second phases of a deal. It noted that the cautious optimism from the US regarding the success of the deal stemmed from the fact that the current formulation for an agreement would see all hostages and agreed-upon Palestinian prisoners released in the first two stages.
Still under discussion is the matter of how many Palestinian prisoners tied to terror offenses will be released, and where those serving severe sentences would be released to. The report added that Israel has said it needs to know how many of the hostages held in Gaza are alive before it agrees to a figure.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi said the sides had agreed to the management of humanitarian aid within the Strip.
In an apparent sign that progress was being made regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian Authority official told Ynet that a former minister was traveling to Qatar to ready the list of prisoners to be released under a deal.
Palestinian Prisoners Club director Qadura Fares “went to Qatar to meet with the negotiating team and prepare the list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of a hostage deal,” the source said.
The Prisoners Club is a Palestinian organization that advocates on behalf of Palestinians in Israeli jails. While the organization used to be financially supported by the Palestinian Authority, Ramallah has reportedly ceased funding the body over the past five years.
On Sunday, Fares said the first stage of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas would entail the release of 25 Israeli hostages in exchange for 48 Palestinian security prisoners who were freed in the Shalit deal in 2011 and incarcerated again since then, along with 200 prisoners serving life sentences, and another 1,000 detainees including women, children and wounded prisoners.
Those serving life sentences would most likely be deported to either Qatar, Egypt or Turkey, he said.

Amid the evolving and contradicting reports in Hebrew, Arabic and English-language media, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed Monday that progress had indeed been made in the negotiations in Doha.
“Progress was made; we see some progress in the negotiations,” Sa’ar said at a press conference in Jerusalem alongside his visiting Danish counterpart, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. “Israel wants a hostage deal. Israel is working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal, and soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing,” he added.
Asked about a timeline for a potential deal, Sa’ar said, “There is progress, I said it looks much better than previously… but I don’t want to say more than that, because I realize there are families that are sensitive to every word and every sentence.”
He said that Israel was working with both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration in the US, and expressed hope “that within a short time we will see things happening, but it is still to be proved.”
While Sa’ar appeared hopeful regarding a deal, his far-right coalition partners were less pleased.
‘A catastrophe’
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism party, warned in a statement on Monday that it “will not be part of” the emerging deal, which he declared would be “a catastrophe for Israel’s national security.”
“We will not be part of a surrender deal that would include releasing terrorists, stopping the war and dissolving the achievements that were paid for with much blood, and abandoning many hostages,” Smotrich said.
Some families of hostages have argued against a phased deal, saying those set be released in later stages may not return at all if the agreement falls apart or the war resumes.

Smotrich argued that “now is the time to continue with all our might, to occupy and cleanse the entire Strip, to finally take control of humanitarian aid from Hamas, and to open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders completely and all the hostages are returned.”
The statement from the far-right minister came after a political source told the Walla news outlet on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to assess if Smotrich would resign from the government should a deal be signed.
The report said the premier believes there’s a high probability National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will quit the government if there’s a deal, and so was hoping to convince Smotrich to at most vote against an agreement (a cabinet majority is likely even without the backing of the two ministers) but not leave the the coalition.
The Netanyahu coalition would likely enjoy majority support for a deal even if both far-right parties were to vote against it. The deal would apparently require approval by the security cabinet and by the government, but not a Knesset vote.
After Smotrich’s statement, National Unity leader Benny Gantz said his party would give full backing to the deal, calling it “a supreme value and a strategic necessity” to bring back the hostages.
“It is the failure to return them and abandoning them that would be a national catastrophe,” he said in a swipe at Smotrich.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, for his part, reiterated his offer to provide Netanyahu’s coalition with a political safety net in order to advance a deal. “I want to remind Netanyahu again, he doesn’t need them,” Lapid says, referring to Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
“I offered him a political safety net for a hostage deal. This offer is valid now, more than ever. If Netanyahu wants to and can make a deal, he and I know how to close the details of the safety net in half an hour,” Lapid said.
Meanwhile, 10 coalition MKs — seven from Netanyahu’s Likud — signed a letter expressing their opposition to a potential deal, calling its an “immoral step.”
The letter urged the premier to “not cross the most basic moral lines, do not endanger Israel’s security.”
The signatories were Likud’s Amit Halevi, Hanoch Milwidsky, Moshe Saada, Tsega Melaku, Avihai Boaron, Dan Illouz and Moshe Pessal; Otzma Yehudit’s Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kroizer; and Religious Zionism’s Simcha Rothman.
Ninety-four of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Amy Spiro contributed to this report.