Hamas and Netanyahu: What’s going on in the next few days? The first few days of a ceasefire deal in the Middle East, according to an Israeli official

One of the three officials and a Hamas official said that there were still many hurdles to clear. The US has said that they are on the verge of a deal, only to have it stall.

Majed Al Ansari, an advisor to the Qatari prime minister and Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters in Doha, where the talks are being conducted, that an agreement was “not far away.” He added that the main obstacles have been overcome and the talks now are “about the final details.”

There is a discussion about 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 long-term ceasefire is one of the issues to be negotiated after the first phase. Hamas wants a full withdrawal and complete end to the war, and hopes that the first phase will lead to that outcome.

The basic framework of the deal, according to officials familiar with the talks, is an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and a six-week ceasefire. During that time, there would be negotiations to reach more hostage-prisoner swaps and a final end to the war.

One main complicating factor is Israel’s domestic politics. The far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Safford is a close ally of the Prime Minister and is publicly opposing the deal, saying Israel should destroy the entire Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu is hoping that the possibility of a Trump administration will persuade his partners to stay in the government.

The sides had to close a deal because of the Envoys from both Biden’s administration and Trump’s team. Anticipation grew last weekend after Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, traveled to Qatar and an Israeli delegation including Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea and Ronen Bar, director of the Shin Bet internal security agency arrived and joined the talks.

Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” that McGurk was working on a text that would be presented to both sides. He did not know if a deal could be reached by January 20.

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“We are very, very close,” he said. “Yet being very close still means we’re far, because until you actually get across the finish line, we’re not there.”

According to the health authority in Gaza, more than 42,000 Palestinians have died during the war, but it’s not known how many of them were fighters. According to them, the majority of the dead have been women and children. The Israeli military says 405 soldiers have been killed in fighting since it invaded Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 7 rampage.

Families of hostages still held in Gaza want Prime Minister Netanyahu to reach a deal that would bring their relatives home. Israelis rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv, with photos of hostages on display.

Palestinians in Gaza were holding out hope for a halt to Israel’s campaign which has wreaked havoc in the territory, driving most of the population from their homes.

“We hear about negotiations every day, but we do not see anything,” said Hammad, a resident of Khan Younis. We believe that there is a truce when we see it on the ground.

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.

Yet Israel has its own reasons to cooperate with Trump on expediting a deal: it wants his help pursuing diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and his support for a possible attack 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 group of Israelis who are expected to be freed by Hamas include 33 Israelis who are dead or have died, as well as women, older men, and hostages with illnesses. Israel had requested their release.

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“I think there’s a certain fear of the unknown, in terms of what the new administration will do and will say,” Lew said. There’s no daylight between the incoming administration and the departing administration in terms of wanting a hostage deal now and pressing both parties to make 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.”

Many families of the remaining hostages who are not slated for release in the first phase worry that pressure to release their relatives will wane. They are lobbying for the release of hostages and an end to the war.

Large sections of the public in both Israel and Gaza are exhausted by the conflict and will welcome an agreement that promises a definitive end. Some of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government members have expressed opposition to the deal because they believe that Hamas should be wiped out in order to avoid a repeat of the attack on Israel.

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.

But the first exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees is expected to take place immediately after implementation begins, perhaps even on the same day. The two sides are also talking about arrangements to allow displaced Palestinians in the south of Gaza to return to their homes in the north.

The Israeli Supreme Court will likely challenge the deal if it is approved by the Israeli full Cabinet and government. There is a chance that the terms will be implemented days before.

He declined to give details of the impending agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks.

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.