LAST UPDATE | 50 mins ago

PALESTINIAN GROUPS HAMAS and Islamic Jihad have approved a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, two Palestinian sources close to negotiations in Doha have said.

“The resistance factions reached an agreement among themselves and informed the mediators of their approval of the (prisoner) exchange deal and ceasefire,” one source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Another Palestinian source confirmed their approval of the deal.

“The factions discussed the agreement positively and expressed their approval and satisfaction, aiming to halt the (Israeli) aggression and protect our people,” another Palestinian source said.

Meanwhile, 62 people have been killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours as mediators try to push for a ceasefire deal to get over the line.

The health ministry in Gaza said today that 62 people were killed by Israel’s war in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 46,707.

Mediators are trying to seal a Gaza truce and hostage release deal. A Qatari official involved in the talks expressed hope an agreement could be reached “very soon”.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States have intensified efforts to broker a ceasefire and enable the release of hostages.

US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a phone call yesterday that both Israel and Hamas needed to show flexibility to get a deal over the line, according to a statement from Sisi’s office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top security officials late yesterday to discuss the deal, his office said, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “ball is now in Hamas’s court”.

“If Hamas accepts, the deal is ready to be concluded and implemented,” said Blinken.

An Israeli source familiar with negotiations said that talks were continuing in Doha today.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said yesterday that negotiations were in their “final stages” and mediators were hopeful they would lead “very soon to an agreement”.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there was a “true willingness from our side to reach an agreement”.

After months of failed efforts to end Gaza’s deadliest-ever war, the latest progress comes days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the first phase of a deal would see 33 Israeli hostages freed, while two Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

A source close to Hamas said that the initial hostage release would be “in batches, starting with children and women”.

Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the truce’s 16th day, an Israeli official said, with media reports saying it would see the release of the remaining captives.

Under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza during the first phase, according to Israeli media.

Hamas said it hoped for a “clear and comprehensive agreement”, adding it had informed other Palestinian factions of the “progress made”.

An official from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose militants have fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, said a delegation had reached Qatar to join the discussions.

Among the sticking points in talks have been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.

The UN’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.

Netanyahu has firmly rejected a full withdrawal from Gaza and has opposed any Palestinian governance of the territory.

But Blinken said yesterday 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”.

Blinken said the “best incentive” to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, also speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire showed that international pressure on Israel “does pay off”.

© AFP 2025