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GAZA CEASE-FIRE

Israel, Hamas agree deal for Gaza truce, hostage release: source briefed on talks


Israel, Hamas agree deal for Gaza truce, hostage release: source briefed on talks

People walk past stalls selling goods amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during previous Israeli strikes, along a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Jan. 15, 2025. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a deal for a cease-fire and the release of hostages being held in Gaza following separate meetings with Qatar's prime minister, a source briefed on the talks told AFP.

A U.S. official confirmed the deal.

Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days, as mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States intensified efforts to cement an agreement.

On Wednesday, a source close to the talks said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani was "meeting Hamas negotiators in his office for [a] final push" to seal the deal.

A source briefed on the talks later told AFP a "Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal [was] reached following [the] Qatari PM's meeting with Hamas negotiators and separately Israeli negotiators in his office."

The announcement comes after months of failed bids to end the deadliest war in Gaza's history, and days ahead of the inauguration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who immediately hailed the deal before it was officially announced by the White House.

"We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!" Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Reuters reported that Trump stated that he will work with Israel to make sure Gaza never "comes a terrorist safe haven," adding that he will build upon and further expand the Abraham Accords.

Trump had warned Hamas of "hell to pay" if it did not free the remaining captives before he took office, and envoys from both his incoming administration and President Joe Biden's outgoing one had been present at the latest negotiations.

Hamas' Oct 7, 2023 attack sparked the war in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 Israelis, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage during the attack, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the U.N. considers reliable.

Sticking points

Among the sticking points in successive rounds of talks had been disagreements over the permanence of any cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.

The U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack, has opposed any post-war role for the militant group in the territory.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday Israel would ultimately "have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed" Palestinian Authority, and embrace a "path toward forming an independent Palestinian state."

He added that the "best incentive" to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza cease-fire showed international pressure on Israel "does pay off".

The October 7 attack on communities in southern Israel sparked uproar around the world, as did the scale of the suffering in Gaza from the retaliatory war.

World powers and international organizations have for months pushed for a cease-fire, which up until Wednesday had remained elusive.

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a deal for a cease-fire and the release of hostages being held in Gaza following separate meetings with Qatar's prime minister, a source briefed on the talks told AFP.A U.S. official confirmed the deal.Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days, as mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States intensified efforts to cement an...