Hamas accepts draft agreement for a Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages, officials say

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday.Mediator Qatar said the negotiations were at the “closest point” yet to sealing a deal.The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity.

An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized.The plan would need to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final approval.All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end the 15-month war and secure the release dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct.

7, 2023, attack that triggered it.Some 100 Israelis are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third of them are dead.Officials have expressed mounting optimism that they can conclude an agreement ahead of the Jan.

20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations.Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a weekly briefing Tuesday that the ongoing negotiations are positive and productive, while declining to get into the details of the sensitive talks.“Today, we are at the closest point ever to having a deal,” he said.Hamas, meanwhile, said in a statement that the ongoing negotiations had reached their “final stage.”The offensive has reduced large areas of the territory to rubble and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, with hundreds of thousands packed into tent camps along the coast where hunger is widespread.Israeli strikes across Gaza overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 18 Palestinians, including two women and four children, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired two missiles at Israel, setting off sirens and sending people racing into s...