7 months ago
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CAIRO (AP) — Hamas has accepted a draught statement for a ceasefire successful the Gaza Strip and the merchandise of dozens of hostages, 2 officials progressive successful the talks said Tuesday. Mediator Qatar said the negotiations were astatine the “closest point” yet to sealing a deal.
The Associated Press obtained a transcript of the projected agreement, and an Egyptian authoritative and a Hamas authoritative confirmed its authenticity. An Israeli authoritative said advancement has been made, but the details are being finalized. The program would request to beryllium submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for last approval.
All 3 officials spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon the closed-door talks.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar person spent the past twelvemonth trying to mediate an extremity the 15-month warfare and unafraid the merchandise dozens of hostages captured successful Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught that triggered it. Some 100 Israelis are inactive captive wrong Gaza, and the subject believes astatine slightest a 3rd them are dead.
Officials person expressed mounting optimism that they tin reason an statement up of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said astatine a play briefing Tuesday that the ongoing negotiations are affirmative and productive, portion declining to get into the details of the delicate talks.
“Today, we are astatine the closest constituent ever to having a deal,” helium said.
Hamas, meanwhile, said successful a connection that the ongoing negotiations had reached their “final stage."
The violative has reduced ample areas of the territory to rubble and displaced astir 90% of Gaza’s colonisation of 2.3 million, with hundreds of thousands packed into structure camps on the seashore wherever hunger is widespread.
Israeli strikes crossed Gaza overnight and into Tuesday killed astatine slightest 18 Palestinians, including 2 women and 4 children, portion Yemen's Houthi rebels fired 2 missiles astatine Israel, mounting disconnected sirens and sending radical racing into shelters. No 1 was wounded by the projectiles.
A three-phase agreement
The three-phase statement — based connected a model laid retired by U.S. President Joe Biden and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council — would statesman with the gradual merchandise of 33 hostages implicit a six-week period, including women, children, older adults and wounded civilians successful speech for perchance hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel.
Among the 33 would beryllium 5 pistillate Israeli soldiers, each of whom would beryllium released successful speech for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 convicted militants who are serving beingness sentences. By the extremity of the archetypal phase, each civilian captives — surviving oregon dormant — volition person been released.
During this first, 42-day phase, Israeli forces would retreat from colonisation centers, Palestinians would beryllium allowed to commencement returning to their homes successful bluish Gaza and determination would beryllium a surge of humanitarian aid, with immoderate 600 trucks entering each day.
Details of the 2nd signifier inactive indispensable beryllium negotiated during the first. Those details stay hard to resoluteness — and the woody does not see written guarantees that the ceasefire volition proceed until a woody is reached. That leaves the imaginable for Israel to resume its subject run aft the archetypal signifier ends.
The 3 mediators, however, person fixed Hamas verbal guarantees that negotiations volition proceed arsenic planned and that they volition property for a woody to instrumentality the 2nd and 3rd phases earlier the extremity of the first, the Egyptian authoritative said.
The woody would let Israel passim the archetypal signifier to stay successful power of the Philadelphi Corridor, the set of territory on Gaza’s borderline with Egypt, which Hamas had initially demanded Israel retreat from. But Israel would propulsion retired from the Netzarim Corridor, a loop crossed cardinal Gaza wherever it had sought a mechanics for searching Palestinians for arms erstwhile they instrumentality to the territory's north.
In the 2nd phase, Hamas would merchandise the remaining surviving captives, chiefly antheral soldiers, successful speech for much prisoners and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza, according to the draught agreement. But Hamas has said it volition not escaped the remaining hostages without an extremity to the warfare and a implicit Israeli withdrawal, portion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has successful the past vowed to resume warring unless Hamas’s subject and governing capabilities are eliminated.
Unless an alternate authorities for Gaza is worked retired successful those talks, it could permission Hamas successful complaint of the territory.
In a 3rd phase, the bodies of remaining hostages would beryllium returned successful speech for a three- to five-year reconstruction program to beryllium carried retired successful Gaza nether planetary supervision.
Growing unit up of Trump's inauguration
Israel and Hamas person travel nether renewed unit to halt the struggle successful the lead-up to Trump's inauguration adjacent week. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, precocious joined U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators successful the Gulf country’s capital, Doha.
Trump said precocious Monday that a ceasefire was “very close.”
“I recognize ... there’s been a handshake and they are getting it finished -- and possibly by the extremity of the week,” helium told the American cablegram transmission Newsmax.
Hamas has blamed Israel for the repeated setbacks successful the negotiations, saying that connected much than 1 occasion, the militant radical had accepted a connection from mediators lone to spot Israel cull it oregon motorboat a caller subject cognition instantly afterwards.
Israel and its adjacent state the United States person blamed setbacks connected Hamas.
Hamas-led militants killed astir 1,200 people, mostly civilians, successful the Oct. 7 onslaught and abducted different 250. Around fractional those hostages were freed during a little ceasefire successful November 2023.
Israel's retaliatory violative has killed implicit 46,000 Palestinians, much than fractional of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not accidental however galore of the dormant were combatants.
Strikes successful Gaza continue
Two strikes successful the cardinal Gaza metropolis of Deir al-Balah overnight and into Tuesday killed 2 women and their 4 children, who ranged successful property from 1 period to 9 years old. One of the women was large and the babe did not survive, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Another 12 radical were killed successful 2 strikes connected the confederate metropolis of Khan Younis, according to the European Hospital.
There was nary contiguous remark from the Israeli military. Israel says it lone targets militants and accuses them of hiding among civilians successful shelters and structure camps for the displaced.
Yemeni rebels occurrence missiles astatine Israel
The warfare has rippled crossed the region, igniting implicit a twelvemonth of warring betwixt Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants that ended with a tense ceasefire successful November. Israel has besides traded nonstop occurrence with Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis.
The Israeli subject said it made respective attempts to intercept the rocket launched from Yemen aboriginal Tuesday and that “the rocket was apt intercepted.” It said an earlier rocket fired from Yemen was besides intercepted.
Police said respective homes were damaged extracurricular Jerusalem and released a photograph of a rocket casing that had crashed into a roof.
The Houthis, who captured Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and overmuch of the country's northbound successful 2014, person launched a bid of rocket and drone attacks connected Israel and person attacked planetary shipping successful the Red Sea. The Houthis accidental they are warring successful solidarity with the Palestinians, but the immense bulk of the targeted ships person nary transportation to the conflict.
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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Josef Federman successful Jerusalem and Natalie Melzer successful Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s warfare sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
