Gaza ceasefire deal being finalised, Palestinian official tells BBC

The terms of a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza and the release of hostages are being finalized, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told the BBC.

It comes as White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the deal and capture could happen “this week”.

An Israeli official also told the Reuters news agency that talks were “advanced”, and a deal could take “hours, days or more”.

US President Joe Biden he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sundayand with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar – who is representing the talks – on Monday.

Sullivan said Biden should also speak with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.

The latest developments come as Netanyahu faces fierce opposition over a potential deal with his ruling party. Ten far-right members, including some from Netanyahu’s Likud party, have sent him a letter opposing the deal.

A Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas and Israeli officials were holding talks in the same building on Monday.

Revealing the details of the deal, the official said “detailed technical discussions took a long time”.

The two groups agreed that Hamas would release three hostages on the first day of the agreement, after which Israel would begin withdrawing troops from populated areas.

Seven days later, Hamas will release four more hostages, and Israel will allow refugees from the south to return to the north, but on foot across the coastal road. Cars, animal-drawn carts, and trucks are allowed to pass through the road near Salah al-Din Road, which is monitored by X-ray machines operated by a Qatari-Egyptian security team.

The agreement also includes a provision for the Israeli military to remain in the agreement Philadelphia corridor and maintaining an 800-meter buffer zone on the eastern and northern borders during the first phase, which will last 42 days.

Israel has also agreed to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including about 190 who have been in prison for 15 years or more. Instead, Hamas will release 34 hostages.

Negotiations for the second and third phases of the agreement will begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s public security agency said an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday killed more than 50 people.

“They have bombed schools, houses and public gatherings,” public security spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

The Israeli military says it is looking into these reports. Separately, it said five soldiers were killed on Monday in the northern Gaza Strip.

The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken to Gaza as hostages.

Israel launched a war in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 46,500 people have been killed during the fighting.

Israel says 94 of the hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 34 are presumed dead, as well as four other Israelis who were captured before the war began, two of whom died.