The First Phase of the War Between the West Bank and the East Bank: Netanyahu’s High-level aides and a Hamas official

There are still a lot of hurdles to be cleared according to one of the officials and a Hamas official. The US has said in the past that they were close to reaching a deal, only to have it stall.

Asked about the talks at a press conference, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said “progress has been made, and I hope that within a short time we will see things happening. It is yet to be proved.

Under discussion now is a phased ceasefire. Netanyahu has repeatedly signaled that he is committed only to the first phase, a partial hostage release in exchange for a weekslong halt in fighting. The possibility of a lasting ceasefire and other issues would be negotiated after the first phase begins. This first phase of the war will lead to a withdrawal and end of the war, which Hamas is hoping will happen.

An official who was aware of the talks said the aim is to have a signed deal or a “declaration of principles” from Israel and Hamas before President Trump takes office.

A deal could weaken Netanyahu’s coalition, which includes two far-right factions that have threatened to leave the government if Israel makes too many concessions. Members of the opposition have promised to give Netanyahu the support that he needs to approve a hostage release, but the hardliners’ anger could be a source of instability down the road.

Netanyahu is hoping that the prospect of a Trump administration — which includes allies of the West Bank settler movement — will persuade his partners to remain in the government.

The head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, and Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, were both in the Qatari capital, Doha. Barnea’s presence meant high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are once again involved in the talks.

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told CNN that McGurk is giving final details of a text to be presented to both sides. He wouldn’t predict whether a deal can be reached by the end of January.

Towards a Solution of the 2023 Gaza Conflict: Israel, Hamas, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICOR)

He said that they were very, very close. “Yet being very close still means we’re far, because until you actually get across the finish line, we’re not there.”

Israel and Hamas have fought a number of wars since the Palestinian militant organization wrested control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. However none of the previous conflicts have been nearly this long or this deadly.

These are just a fraction of the hostages and prisoners that Hamas and Israel hold. There are nearly 100 hostages, some of whom hold dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, in Gaza. Israel is holding more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinians in Gaza were hoping for a cease-fire, but they were not so hopeful that it would be successful because the campaign had destroyed much of the territory and driven many people from their homes.

“We hear that there are negotiations every day, but we see nothing,” said Mazen Hammad, a resident of the southern city of Khan Younis. “When we see it on the ground, then we believe that there is a truce.”

Israel’s top security chiefs traveled to Qatar this weekend, and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross — the group that facilitated the last hostage-prisoner exchange in November 2023, a month into the war — is visiting Israel and Gaza, meeting officials in anticipation of a new deal.

Israel wants Trump to help with diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia in order to stop an attack on Iran’s nuclear program, and it wants him to support a strike on Iran’s nuclear program.

A Hamas official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told NPR that Hamas is seeking to demonstrate flexibility by proposing several possible options to resolve each point of contention.

The Israeli official said that the hostages would include women, people over the age of 50, children, and the injured and ailing.

The First Round of Israeli-Hamas-Leading Negotiations: The “Fear of the unknown” and “Uncertainties of the Term in the Israel-Gazawrest Agreement”

Lew said there is a fear of the unknown in terms of what the new administration will do. There’s no daylight between the outgoing administration and incoming administration in terms of wanting a hostage deal now and pressing all parties to make the concessions that are appropriate to reach that.

President-elect Trump has repeatedly warned that if the hostages captured from Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, and held in Gaza aren’t released by his inauguration, there would be “hell to pay.”

The pressure to release hostages in the first phase will wane, so many families worry that their relatives will be left behind. They have been lobbying for a comprehensive agreement that ends the war and secures the release of all hostages.

Large parts of the public in both Israel and Gaza are tired of the conflict and will welcome an agreement to end it. However, some conservative members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have already expressed opposition to the deal on the grounds that Hamas should be completely eradicated to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which Hamas fighters and other militants killed around 1200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

A further round of negotiations will begin 16 days into that first phase of the agreement, about further withdrawals of Israeli troops from Gaza, although the Israeli official said a full withdrawal would not happen until all hostages are fully released.

It is believed that the first exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners will happen on the same day as implementation begins. Palestinians who fled the south of Gaza to return to their homes in the north will be allowed to do so.

The Israeli government would have to approve the deal before it could be signed, and it could be challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. So it may be days before the terms are implemented.

He wouldn’t give details about the agreement. But an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, outlined some of the key provisions.

After more than fifteen months of fighting in their most devastating war ever, Israel and Hamas are extremely close to agreeing to a ceasefire, according to officials involved in the talks.