FILE-Police Officer walks near a police station that was destroyed after a battle between Israeli troops and Hamas militants that have take the station on October 8, 2023 in Sderot, Israel. On Saturday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched …
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.
An Israeli official tells the Associated Press that progress has been made, but the details are being finalized. The three-phase plan would have to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final approval.
What is the three-phase plan?
The three-phase agreement — based on a framework laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council — would begin with the release of 33 hostages over a six-week period, including women, children, older adults and wounded civilians in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel.
According to the Associated Press, among the 33 would be five female Israeli soldiers, each to be released in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 militants who are serving life sentences. An Israeli official tells the AP Israel assumes most of the 33 hostages are alive.
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The deal would allow Israel throughout the first phase to remain in control of the Philadelphi corridor, the band of territory along Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Hamas initially demanded Israel withdraw from.
Citing the draft agreement, the AP reports that in the second phase, Hamas would release the remaining hostages, male soldiers, in exchange for more prisoners and the "complete withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Gaza.
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In a third phase, the bodies of remaining hostages would be returned in exchange for a three- to five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza under international supervision.
During the 42-day phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from population centers, Palestinians could start returning to what remains of their homes in northern Gaza and there would be an increase of humanitarian aid, with some 600 trucks entering daily.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year attempting to mediate an end to the war and secure the release of dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered it. Nearly 100 people are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third are dead.
Details of the second phase are still being negotiated during the first. The AP reported that those details remain difficult to resolve — and the deal does not include written guarantees that the ceasefire will continue until a deal is reached. This means Israel could resume its military campaign after the first phase ends.
What they're saying:
The Israeli official tells the AP "detailed negotiations" on the second phase will begin during the first. He said Israel will hold on to some "assets" throughout negotiations, referring to a military presence, and would not exit the Gaza Strip until all hostages return home.
"I believe we will get a ceasefire," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech Tuesday, asserting it was up to Hamas. "It’s right on the brink. It’s closer than it’s ever been before," and word could come within hours, or days.
Israel and Hamas have come under renewed pressure to halt the war before Trump's inauguration. President-elect Donald Trump said late Monday a ceasefire was "very close."
According to the AP, Hamas has said it will not free the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed in the past to resume fighting until Hamas’ military and governing capabilities are eliminated.
Gaza ceasefire
The backstory:
Advocacy groups around the world have been calling for a ceasefire and an end to what they say is a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Israel's offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are packed into squalid tent camps, the health sector has largely collapsed and entire neighborhoods have been obliterated.
A top U.N. official has said there is now a full-blown famine in northern Gaza.
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As the American presidential primary voting season ramps up, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris face apathy and discontent from some Democratic primary voters over support of Israel.
Protests and counterprotests over military support for Israel’s war against Hamas roiled U.S. college campuses in the spring.
In April, Congress passed $26 billion in aid that will be sent to Israel. Some of the funds will be used to provide officials there with humanitarian relief for Gaza, and some will be dedicated to replenishing Israel’s missile defense systems and for U.S. military operations in the regions.
Protests filled the streets outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.