LAST UPDATE | 13 Jan
NEGOTIATORS DISCUSSING A peace deal for Gaza are “pressing hard” to secure an agreement, according to US President Joe Biden.
In his final foreign policy address before the conclusion of his presidency next week, Biden said that negotiating teams are on the “brink” of securing a ceasefire deal that was established months ago.
Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security advisor today confirmed reports that from Qatar, where truce talks are being held and mediated by the US, Egypt and the host nation, that a truce and hostage swap deal could be finalised soon.
The deal, which was outlined by Biden in May last year, will put in place a three-part plan, reportedly proposed by Israel, which seeks to put an end to the conflict in Gaza,
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza, following the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel in 2024, has killed more than 46,500 people, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ attack in 2023, when 1,210 people in Israel, mostly civilians, were killed according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
More than 250 people were taken hostage during the attack, 94 of whom still remain captive in Gaza by Hamas.
Biden also confirmed today that negotiators are reviewing the conditions of a three-phase, Israeli-proposed deal that he announced, as a third party, in May 2024.
Phase one of the plan would include a six-week ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated regions of Gaza and the release of female, elderly and wounded hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The second phase includes the release of the remaining hostages and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The third phase looks to the reconstruction of Gaza, without a Hamas-backed authority in charge, and returning of the hostages to their families. There will then be a permanent ceasefire implemented.
It is the fifth time that Israel and Hamas have met to agree to these terms. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said he would not agree to a full ceasefire until Hamas was destroyed.
Speaking today, Sullivan told reporters he was more hopeful of a deal now than he was on previous occasions.
“It’s because the gaps have fundamentally narrowed down,” said Sullivan.
Progress had been made on issues including the formula for the exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and on how Israel’s forces would be “postured” in Gaza, he said.
Sullivan credited the fact that Israel had achieved its military objectives in Gaza, while Hamas has suffered “catastrophic losses”.
“When you put those two factors together, we believe that the time is right to get a deal and to have to close,” Sullivan said.
US President Joe Biden today said that negotiators are “working urgently” to close the deal and bring an end to the war that has brought “hell” to the people of Gaza and Israel.
He added that the Palestinian people, of whom hundreds of thousands have been displaced in Gaza, “deserve peace” and that the Israeli population “deserve security”.
The outgoing US leader added that it was imperative that the families of those who have been captured are reunited with their loved ones in Israel.
Also today, Qatar’s ruler has met with the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations, his office said in a statement.
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met with Steve Witkoff, US President-elect Donald Trump’s expected Middle East envoy, and Brett McGurk, the incumbent Joe Biden’s envoy for the region, the statement said.
It added they “reviewed developments in the Gaza Strip… as well as the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations”.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has vowed to oppose any deal to end the Gaza war, while top officials reported progress towards securing an agreement.
Since early January, indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have resumed in Doha to strike a ceasefire deal that would also facilitate the release of dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
“The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel’s national security,” Smotrich said on X.
“We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood, and abandoning many hostages still in captivity.
“Now is the time to intensify our efforts, using all available force to fully secure and cleanse the Gaza Strip,” he continued.
“We must take decisive control of humanitarian aid to prevent its exploitation by Hamas, and open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders unconditionally and all hostages are safely returned.”
With reporting from AFP and Muiris Ó Cearbhaill
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